Pennsylvania Game News - December 2014 - 47

in Monroe County.
The area closed totaled 349 square
miles, all of which lies within Wildlife
Management Unit 3D.
Additionally, the portions of State
Game Lands 180, 183 and 221 within
Pike and Monroe counties were closed
to all public use, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources followed suit by closing public access to the portions of Delaware
State Forest within those counties.
Hough said he knew the decision
would disappoint many who hunt
in those townships and were eagerly
awaiting the start of the archery season,
but it was a decision that had to be
made, and for the most part, hunters
in the area echoed their support of the
order.
"This isn't something we wanted to
do," Hough said of temporarily closing
the seasons. "And it's understandable
that the decision frustrated some hunters; we were frustrated, as well.
"But most of the hunters I've talked
to, and some of the same ones who were
frustrated, also said they understood
the circumstances require this action,"
Hough said.
This isn't the first time executive

authority has been used to temporarily
close hunting seasons in Pennsylvania.
On Oct. 30, 1953, Gov. John S. Fine
ordered a halt to all hunting statewide
due to an extreme forest fire hazard.
The order was lifted a couple weeks
later on Nov. 11, and some days were
added onto the end of the season.
The order issued by Hough, however, appears to be a first for a Game
Commission executive director.
A little more than a week after
the executive order was issued, as the
nearly monthlong manhunt continued,
the order was amended to restore the
hunting and trapping seasons in parts
of some of the townships, and reopen
the portions of game lands within those
areas.
Again, the decision was made in
consultation with state police, who
were no longer focusing their search
efforts on those areas because evidence
indicated the fugitive was elsewhere.
As of press time, with fugitive Eric
Frein still at large, Hough said that
he would continue to adjust the executive order to allow for increased
hunting opportunities within the previously closed areas if deemed appropriate
through the investigation.

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DECEMBER 2014

47

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Pennsylvania Game News - December 2014

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