Pennsylvania Game News - February 2017 - 36

"Unfortunately, without a
license revenue increase,
additional programs will
have to be reduced or
eliminated."
- R . Matthew Hough
Game Commission Executive Director

the coming fiscal year.
Game Commission Executive
Director R. Matthew Hough said closing
the two pheasant farms figures to save
the agency about $1.5 million in the next
fiscal year.
"It's a difficult decision to make,"
Hough said. "Our employees at the
Western Game Farm and Northcentral
Game Farm have worked hard
throughout their careers to make our
pheasant propagation program the best
it can be. They've done an outstanding
job, and it's tough to look them in the
eyes and tell them their positions are
being eliminated - especially at this time
of year. But, as an agency that has not
seen its primary revenue source increase
in almost 18 years, it - unfortunately
- is necessary to make these types of
reductions."
The Game Commission will continue
to operate two pheasant farms - the
Loyalsock Game Farm in Lycoming
County and the Southwest Game Farm
in Armstrong County.
Bob Boyd, who heads up the Game
Commission's pheasant propagation
program, said the agency will strive to
produce the same quality birds it has.
Obviously, pheasant production will
decrease overall in 2017-18 due to the
closure of the two farms, Boyd said. But
the agency has hopes to release about
36

170,000 pheasants for hunting in the fall
of 2017, he said.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Board
of Game Commissioners is considering
adopting regulations to create a "pheasant
hunting permit" as a requirement to hunt
Pennsylvania pheasants. The current
proposed cost of the permit is $25 for
adults, and $1 for junior hunters.
Revenue from the permit fees could
sustain the program into the future.
While the Game Commission is
permitted under law to create new
permits, hunting and furtaker license
fees must be approved by the General
Assembly.
For several years, the Game
Commission has sought to increase
license revenues through pursuing
legislation to increase the cost of a
hunting license, or allow the agency's
Board of Commissioners to set license
fees. However, neither proposal has been
approved by the General Assembly.
The latest attempt, Senate Bill 1166,
expired in the House of Representatives
at the completion of the 2016 legislative
session, despite near-unanimous
approval in the Senate.
Senate Bill 1166 also was supported
by all major statewide sporting groups.
Hough said that, without legislative
support to increase revenues, the Game
Commission will have no choice but to
continue to curtail programs.
"While making program cuts is very
difficult for me because of the impact
those cuts have on our employees, all
reductions in the programs and services
the agency provides affect our hunters
and trappers, and every citizen of the
Commonwealth," Hough said. "And
unfortunately, without a license revenue
increase, additional programs will have
to be reduced or eliminated."
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2017

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