Pennsylvania Game News - January 2012 - 11

Manage and protect a network of public and private lands and waters to provide habitat for wildlife.
Providing hunting and furtaking opportunity are among State Game Lands mandates. During the year, 4,279 miles of roads were maintained for hunter and habitat management access; 10,560 parking lots were maintained; 78 bridges repaired; 83 culverts replaced; and 313 miles of trails maintained. During the year, 2,012 acres were added to the State Game Lands system, bringing to 1,450,754 the total of State Game Lands acres owned. These are comprised of 305 tracts, with at least one tract in all but two counties. Last year, to help users better understand our habitat management work, 5,000 signs were posted on various State Game Lands highlighting food plots, prescribed fire treatments, deer fence exclosures and other management practices evident on the particular Game Lands. Five demonstration areas were identified or established on State Game Lands for the Appalachian Mountains Woodcock Initiative. These areas are providing examples of best management practices for American woodcock, a species of greatest conservation need in our Wildlife Action Plan. In lieu of taxes, the agency provided from the Game Fund $1.20 per acre for payment in-lieu-of taxes. These totaled $1,737,258 and were divided into equal payments for the county, school district and township where Game Lands are located. The Howard Nursery produced and distributed 2,060,525 tree and shrub seedlings for wildlife food and cover plantings, and 484,450 of the seedlings distributed were sold for $105,095.52. For the Seedling for Schools program, 163,950 seedlings, in 1,010 orders to 783 schools were provided, along with teacher resource packets and student activity pages. The nursery wood shop produced 22,136 wood products which included: 4,417 bluebird boxes; 10,282 bluebird box kits; 373 wood duck boxes and kits; 97 bat houses; 137 custom signs; 84 boundary line signs; and 139 bulletin boards and 3,575 sign backboards for use on Game Lands and cooperative access properties. Wood products are available for purchase on the agency’s website. During the year, the wildlife habitat component of the white-tailed deer management program was refined. Seedling and sapling growth and deer browse influences were evaluated, as well as effects from soils, invasive species, natural light densities, random forest inventory survey plots. As part of a concerted effort to manage invasive plant species on Game Lands, 1,678 acres were treated through the agency’s right-of ways program. This treatment was made part of the maintenance conditions within each licenses agreement, and will continue to be accomplished as part of the licensee obligations. Among the agency’s many ROW agreements, of particular interest were the agreements with certain radio stations that allowed the stations to exchange or reduce delinquent ROW license fees for free radio time. This provided the Game Commission to reach thousands of radio listeners with messages about our nesting box and seedling product sales and hunter/trapper programs. Over the course of the year, 1,204 1-minute radio ads aired, worth $40,423.
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http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=636779&mode=2 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=636779&mode=2

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - January 2012