Game Commission drops plan to require hiking permit during hunting season

BY BRENDAN GIBBONS
Times-Shamrock Writer

The state Game Commission suspended a plan for now to restrict nonhunting uses on game lands after an outcry from outdoor recreation groups.

The Board of Commissioners was set to vote Tuesday on a proposal to require hikers, horseback riders, bicyclists and snowmobilers to obtain a free permit and limit use of game lands during hunting seasons to Sundays only. The commission took the proposal off its agenda last Thursday.

As of last Friday morning, the commission received more than 1,900 public comments opposed to the idea, though nearly 1,375 were form letters generated by the Sierra Club, agency spokesman Travis Lau said. It received 20 comments in support.

To meet with groups
At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Brian Hoover of Glenolden asked commission staff to set up meetings with affected outdoor groups, according to an agency news release. Mr. Hoover said the board will work on the proposal and “educate the public” about game lands.

The strong public response didn’t surprise Keystone Trails Association director Curt Ashenfelter, whose group used email mailing lists and social media to rally hikers, climbers, cave explorers, birders, mountain bikers, horseback riders and wildlife photographers to oppose the plan.

“Some of the prettiest trails in Pennsylvania are on state game lands,” he said. “Hikers love state game lands and that’s why they’re so concerned about being barred.”

Current rules prohibit bicycling, horseback riding and snowmobiling from the final Saturday in September to the third Saturday in January and the last Saturday in April to the last Saturday in May.

The proposed rule would have required permits for these uses, as well as hikers, and would only have allowed them in the game lands on Sundays during restricted seasons. It would also have extended the spring ban to Memorial Day.

An idea proposed earlier last year would have charged bicyclists, horseback riders and snowmobilers fees for the permits, though not hikers. The board tabled that idea in September.

Many hunting groups support a fee for nonhunters, said Susquehanna County resident John Ord, vice president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs. It gives nonhunters a financial stake in an agency primarily supported by hunters, he said.

The Game Commission says half of its annual revenue comes from hunting and trapping licenses. Timber, mineral, oil and gas extraction and a share of federal excise taxes on sporting goods and ammunition also add to its budget. It receives no General Fund appropriations.

Funded by hunters
“We feel as though we’ve bought and paid for those lands with our hunting license dollars,” Mr. Ord said. “Now this group of people is going to come in and have use of it without any kind of monetary investment.” He added that the federation will not weigh in on how much the fee should be or how it should be administered.

Mr. Ashenfelter pointed out that hikers donate volunteer labor to maintain trails and conditions on game lands. They contributed 36,000 hours of labor last year, he said.

Hiking and conservation groups also donate property to the Game Commission or sell them at a loss, he said.

“We think we have a really good relationship with the Game Commission, so when we heard about the hiker permit fees, we were surprised,” he said.

KENT JACKSON, staff writer, contributed to this story.