PA Sportsmen Already Paying The Price

By Bob Frye, Tribune-Review

You walk into your doctor's office with a bullet hole in one leg, stab wounds in your chest, severe burns on your feet and, what the heck, let's throw in a doozy of a hangnail, too.

Clearly, you need care.

And your doctor's response?

He asks if you've been taking your vitamins. He wonders if you've considered getting more exercise. He suggests you fundraise to buy bandages and promises you baby aspirin, maybe, later, if you can convince the neighbors you need them.

That's how Pennsylvania lawmakers treated sportsmen last week.

The executive directors of the Pennsylvania Game and Fish and Boat commissions delivered their annual reports to the members of the House of Representatives game and fisheries committee. As expected, both spent a significant portion of their time asking for money.

Hunting and furtaking license prices haven't changed since 1999; fishing licenses not since 2005.

Increasingly, that's leading to consequences.

The Game Commission has already closed two pheasant farms, something that will mean 50,000 fewer pheasants ­­— at least — for hunters this fall. Next up, said executive director Matt Hough, might be the shuttering of the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and Howard Nursery, which provides trees and shrubs for game lands.

The Fish and Boat Commission, meanwhile, will have no choice but to make “deep program cuts” starting in 2018 without additional revenue, said executive director John Arway. It's likely some of those will come via hatcheries, he warned.

Both agencies are short on law enforcement officers — the front line against poaching — and may get shorter, the directors said.

That's all on lawmakers.

Only they can increase prices. The fact that they haven't in so long is, as Wes Waldron of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania said recently, “at best unconscionable.”

What's the holdup?

Naked self preservation.

Lawmakers didn't display any animus toward the commissions, unlike in times past. But they danced all around the fee issue.

They quizzed the agencies on whether they're cutting costs. They suggested other ways of raising revenue, like selling permits to allow people to use ATVs on game lands. One offered to propose giving each $1 million in general tax money — something that's unprecedented — to tide them over until something, meaning who knows what, changes.

That's all fine as far as it goes. The commissions should be pressured to be efficient and creative.

But none of those ideas will solve their problems or help sportsmen.

Several lawmakers said they understand that and have heard virtually every statewide sportsmen's group say they favor fee hikes.

But they also made clear they won't risk votes back home to do anything about it, not until the commissions can somehow prove an even wider groundswell of support.

Enough's enough.

No one likes paying more for anything. But the time's come.

Sportsmen who value fish and wildlife and the recreation they provide must tell lawmakers to properly our natural resource agencies.

If not, we'll all pay the price in other ways.

Bob Frye is the Tribune-Review outdoors editor. Reach him at 412-216-0193 or bfrye@tribweb.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

Cabela’s Helps Game Commission Combat Wildlife Crimes

Outfitter provides gift cards to reward tipsters in poaching cases.

Chad Eyler, the Game Commission’s special permits division chief and an Operation Game Thief administrator, left, stands beside Ron Leh, retail marketing manager for Cabela’s Hamburg store, and Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Protection Director Thomas P. Grohol as Leh is presented an award for the outfitter’s support of the Operation Game Thief program. Get Image

          In poaching cases, Pennsylvania law provides judges with the authority to levy an additional $500 penalty if the case originated from a tip.
          When it’s assessed, the penalty allows the Game Commission to pay a reward to the informant.
          But when it’s not, there’s no mechanism for the agency to make that payment and show its appreciation to those who report wildlife crimes
          Until now, that is.
          Cabela’s, the nationwide retailer of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, has stepped up to provide $50 gift cards the Game Commission will use as rewards for tip-driven convictions when the additional penalty is not assessed.
          Ron Leh, retail marketing manager for Cabela’s Hamburg store, appeared this week at the Board of Game Commissioners quarterly meeting to present what he said were the first of 10 reward gift cards.
          In a show of appreciation, the Game Commission presented Leh with a placard recognizing the outfitter’s support for Operation Game Thief, the Game Commission’s program for reporting poaching of deer, bears, turkeys or elk, and endangered, threatened and protected species.

Get Image

          Since the hotline’s launch, Cabela’s also has supported Operation Game Thief by hanging posters throughout the Hamburg store.
          “The partnership we have formed benefits not only Cabela’s and the Game Commission, but more importantly, the wildlife of Pennsylvania,” Leh said. “We’re proud to support Operation Game Thief, and couldn’t be more pleased with the results the program is getting.”
          The 24-hour Operation Game Thief hotline was launched in late September, and tips have been coming in at record numbers since. Operation Game Thief has resulted in charges in poaching cases, including one in which several trophy-class bucks were taken unlawfully, and also has led to the recovery of an unlawfully harvested bobcat and a black bear that was shot with a crossbow bolt and left for dead.
          To make a report through Operation Game Thief, dial 1-888-PGC-8001, or go to the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us to fill out a reporting form online. Those providing information may remain anonymous.

From left, Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough, Southeast Region Director Bruce Metz, Game Lands Maintenance Worker Tim Esterly, and Game Commissioner David J. Putnam gather for a photo as Esterly is presented a Life Saving Award for taking action that prevented a would-be suicide in June. Get Image

Game Commission worker honored for life-saving action
          At this week’s meeting, Game Commission staff, Southeast Region Director Bruce Metz and the Board of Game Commissioners also presented an award recognizing life-saving action a Game Commission employee took in June.
          Tim Esterly, a game lands maintenance worker based in Berks County, was presented the agency’s Life Saving Award for intervening and stopping a woman’s suicide attempt in June. Responding to a report of a vehicle parked with its lights on in a lot on State Game Lands 280 in Berks County, Esterly pulled alongside the idling vehicle, which had a hose running from the exhaust pipe to a window. The woman was losing consciousness, but revived after Esterly opened the door and shut off the vehicle. He kept her alert and talking until paramedics arrived.
          Since the event, the woman has been doing well, and she and her family have thanked Esterly for taking action, Metz said.
          “It truly was a life-saving event and we’re honored and glad Tim was there to take action,” Metz said.

New Pennsylvania Laws Haven't Curbed The Worst Cases Of Wildlife Poaching

By Shannon M. Nass / Special to the Post-Gazette

The Game Commission's John Wyant displays recovered animal parts 

that were sold illegally on the black market or taken from poached animals.

In January 2010, a 22-year-old West Virginia woman and an accomplice engaged in a killing spree that spanned two days and six counties. Armed with .22- and .17-caliber rifles, they drove around the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border at night spotlighting and opening fire on deer, mortally wounding some and leaving others to suffer for days before dying.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission considered it unsportsmanlike conduct at its worst.

Nearly three years later, new state laws are targeting "thrill kill" wildlife poachers with higher penalties that treat poaching as theft of public property, and PGC has increased enforcement patrols and orchestrated multi-agency task force raids on poaching suspects.

Nevertheless, the new laws have not curbed the trend in thrill-kill poaching. The number of poaching cases has significantly increased since the laws were enacted.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Dan Sitler, who led the investigation in the egregious 2010 thrill-kill case, said it was one of the worst he's seen in the 13 years he's been in the field.

"It's a very despicable practice," he said. "We take all poaching very seriously, but when you get into these thrill kills there's not a person out there that can justify that. It's just outright wrong."

Trishelle Barish of Weirton, W.Va., pleaded guilty to 10 charges related to the poaching incident, amounting to more than $6,000 in fines and restitution plus court costs and an 18-year revocation of her Pennsylvania non-resident hunting license.

Had the spree occurred seven months later, she would have faced felony charges.

In July 2010, state legislators passed a law patterned after language in the Pennsylvania Crimes Code regarding theft offenses, whereby the more a violator steals, the higher the penalties.

Under the law, first-time offenders caught jacklighting a deer, killing a deer or turkey out of season or exceeding the deer or turkey bag limit face 90 days imprisonment, a fine of at least $1,000 and a three-year loss of hunting privileges. First-offense convictions for bear or elk violations could result in a fine up to $3,000, as much as six months in jail or the loss of hunting license privileges for up to five years. Serial poaching or committing multiple illegal kills in a single episode is a felony that carries fines of up to $15,000 and 36 months in jail.

The former penalty for shooting a deer at night using a light was $200 to $300.

"If you look at it as the theft of wildlife, then why shouldn't we treat it the same as the theft of any other natural resource," said Rich Palmer, PGC director of the bureau of wildlife protection.

In another anti-poaching move in 2010, Pennsylvania enacted a law that prevents convicted wildlife poachers from most other states from purchasing a Pennsylvania hunting license. It also denies out-of-state hunting privileges to Pennsylvanians convicted of poaching here and keeps Pennsylvanians convicted of poaching elsewhere from getting a resident license. With membership in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, Pennsylvania joined 37 states that support the suspension of state hunting privileges in all participating states following a conviction of wildlife poaching in any member state.

But the strong new laws haven't curbed wildlife poaching. The number of incidents of thrill killing have increased significantly with poaching now occurring in all 67 counties in the state. Palmer described it as a disturbing trend in Pennsylvania and other states, as well.

In response, the PGC has increased its enforcement presence and begun targeting poachers and thrill killers with large-scale, organized task forces. Last year, the agency ran the statewide Operation Talon, which involved more than 500 officers including Pennsylvania wildlife conservation officers and deputies, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents, state forest rangers and state police with air surveillance.

Palmer described the operation as very successful and said the PGC plans to do it again this year. Smaller, regional task forces worked as well, he said.

But that may not be enough. Despite those efforts, Palmer said total violations in all poaching categories rose from 18,435 in 2010-11 to 20,144 in 2011-12. The total number of citations, arrests and prosecutions in 2012 amounted to 6,537, up from 6,189 the year before.

Nevertheless, Palmer cites evidence that the new laws are having an effect. The PGC has gathered intelligence, he said, that a new sense of deterrence has been created, and reports from officers working night patrols indicate there was less poaching activity in 2012.

Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Franklin, said his initial concern about the Wildlife Violator Compact law -- that it would deny gun ownership rights to Game and Wildlife Code felons -- was satisfied by an amendment that weakened its impact on denial of gun ownership rights.

"Since being enacted, [it] is doing its job by increasing fines and penalties, enacting stiffer punishments for poachers, and improving hunter safety throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he said.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Dan Puhala, whose beat includes parts of Allegheny County, said the tougher laws are acting as a deterrent and have given officers more muscle in the field. In a recent case, he used DNA evidence to capture and convict a poacher.

"I think people think that we're bluffing," he said. "Those tools are there, and if that's what it comes to, then personally I don't have a problem doing it."

Puhala said poaching motivation often stems from greed, obsession, a sense of entitlement or the view that game laws, as well as other laws, are there to be broken. In most cases, however, Sitler said there's no valid reason for wildlife thrill killing, or as he calls it, "joy shooting."

"It's difficult to tell what their reasons are," he said. "If I could figure out the mentality of poaching, I'd write a book." Wildlife management authorities consider the trill-kill mentality a complete disregard for wildlife, for which something has to be done.

"I personally feel like I have to protect that which can't protect itself," said Puhala. "It's our job. You have to be a voice for something that doesn't have a voice."

Pennsylvania's Turn In A Poacher program offers a $250 reward for a tip resulting in a conviction for poaching a threatened, endangered or big game animal. Call 888-PGC-8001 or visit www.pgc.state.pa.us.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/hunting-fishing/new-pennsylvania-laws-havent-curbed-the-worst-cases-of-wildlife-poaching-664537

Fines And Prison Sentences Increased For Fish Poaching

By John Hayes / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania is setting the hook on wildlife poachers. In 2010, the state Game Code was amended to significantly increase poaching penalties, adding for the first time jail sentences for some first-time offenders. Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law House Bill 2293, which increases the maximum fine for illegally harvesting fish from $200 to $5,000 and gives the state Fish and Boat Commission authority to revoke fishing and boating privileges for as long as five years.

 

The law went into effect immediately. It adds a new section to the Fish and Boat Code for "serious unlawful take," increasing the penalty for harvesting more than the daily limit from a summary offense of the first degree to a misdemeanor of the second degree. It also enables the PFBC to charge violators for the costs of replacing illegally harvested fish, and increases poaching prison sentences from a maximum of 90 days to two years.

 

In a written statement, executive director John Arway suggested the new penalties may help deter steelhead poaching in Erie County, where every year conservation officers apprehend five or six poachers each in possession of dozens of fish over the legal limit.

"These are the individuals who deliberately come in after dark and take large amounts of game fish, often by using illegal methods such as netting or spearing in the streams," Arway said.

 

In another action, the governor approved House Bill 1417, which adds waterways conservation officers and their deputies to those who are protected under the aggravated assault provisions of the Pennsylvania Crimes and Offenses code.

Game Commission Cracks Down on Poachers

By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

The Game Commission is adjusting how it goes after poachers.

In years past, when the agency`s deputy force was much larger, wildlife conservation officers looked for those shooting game at night and out of season largely independently. This past year, to account for a smaller deputy force, the commission tried its first-ever statewide, coordinated poaching task force.

Officers went out in a coordinated effort during what is traditionally the busiest two weeks of the nighttime poaching season, said Rich Palmer, director of the bureau of wildlife protection. That paid off with more than 300 public contacts, 192 citations and 94 warnings, he said.

Commission president Ralph Martone of New Castle praised the move, saying it`s important to show law-abiding sportsmen the wildlife — often trophy deer — that`s being stolen from them, and the efforts being made to curtail that activity.

"I think you get a lot of credit when you do that," Martone said.

Palmer said the commission is likewise getting more involved with tracking poachers and how they pay their fines.

Pennsylvania prior to last year joined the Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact, which allows member states to share information on poachers and ban a hunter who broke the law in one place from hunting in another.

Last year, the commission entered 177 names into that system, Palmer said. It`s entered 84 already this year and that "will be going up significantly," he said.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been working with that system, too. Don Lauver, an assistant director in the agency`s bureau of law enforcement, said the agency recently entered the names of seven people who had broken the state`s fishing and boating regulations — but failed to respond to their citations — into the system. That should make it impossible to buy a fishing license in any member state, he said.

That kind of thing may mean more money — or at least, money collected sooner — for the agencies, as well.

Changes in the law have also allowed the Game Commission to be more aggressive in making poachers pay their fines, Palmer added. In years past, "there were a lot of people who paid $5 a month" for years toward their penalties, Palmer said. Now, very few go beyond 180 days, and those who do see their license-buying privileges go on indefinite revocation, he said.

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Hotline

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission`s fish kill hotline is doing its job — sort of.

The commission established a toll free number — 1-855-FISH-KIL — earlier this year to give the public a way to report fish kills and other pollution events. That`s generated some cases, said Jeff Bridi of the commission`s bureau of law enforcement. About half have been actual pollution calls; the other half were from people with general questions about the agency. Still, staff believes the hotline is "worth continuing," he said.

If anything, the commission needs to do more to make the public aware the number exists, he said. One way that will occur is, from this point forward, the number will be printed on the back side of fishing licenses sold.

Read more: Game Commission cracks down on poachers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_791603.html#ixzz1sRE00lTP