Post by yihunt on Jul 19, 2009 20:56:11 GMT -4
New law wouldn't require hunters to show license
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, July 19, 2009
If you're going fishing this summer or hunting this fall, you still have to display your license at all times.
But that may not be the case for long, in one of those situations anyway.
Legislation that would remove the requirement that hunters wear their license rather than carry it in a wallet — House Bill 460 — was introduced earlier this year. It's not been signed into law, or even moved out of the House Game and Fisheries Committee yet.
It's been introduced, though, by state Rep. Neal Goodman, a Schuylkill County Democrat.
In the meantime, hunters need to be aware that the display rule still applies. There's apparently been some confusion about that.
Pennsylvania Game Commissioner Tom Boop of Northumberland County said he's been fielding phone calls from hunters wondering if the rule still applies. It does, he said.
"It doesn't necessarily need to be on your back any more, but it does need to be displayed on your person. It could be in a fishing license holder on your hat or on your back or wherever, but it does have to be displayed," Boop said.
That rule is explained on page 84 of the hunting and trapping digest that hunters get when they buy their license, he said.
As for fishing licenses, there is no pending legislation that would allow anglers to carry them in a wallet rather than display them on their bodies, and, if officials with that agency have their way, there won't be.
Some Fish and Boat Commissioners — having been questioned by anglers as to why they need to display their license — were considering whether to pursue a regulatory change to get rid of the display rules. But they decided against it this past week.
They came to that conclusion after being convinced that there are a whole host of reasons why a display requirement is a good thing.
For starters, conservation officers can more quickly and more easily tell if a person is fishing legally if their license is visible, said Tom Kamerzel, director of the commission's bureau of law enforcement. That's less intrusive for the angler, he said. It allows landowners and other sportsmen to get information on those breaking the law, he added. And it brings in money to the commission.
When California first required anglers to wear their license beginning in 1994, sales increased dramatically, Kamerzel said. Previously — when there was no easy way to tell who had a license and who didn't — many people apparently fished without one.
Law-abiding sportsmen can appreciate the importance of that change, he said.
"Honest people don't want to be supporting ones who aren't," Kamerzel said.
Those arguments were enough to convince commissioners that the fishing license display requirements are fine as is.
"I don't see any problem with displaying your license," said commissioner Tom Shetterly of Charleroi.
"It's a positive thing, it's not a negative thing," agreed commissioner Bob Bachman of Lancaster County.
More proposed changes
Fish and Boat Commissioners did take the first steps toward changing a couple of other rules this past week.
First, they gave preliminary approval to a regulation that would make it illegal for anyone to ride outside the normal passenger area on a pontoon boats, regardless of the boat's speed.
If a person on a deck outside the railed seating area on a pontoon boats falls overboard, the first thing that happens is that they're swept between the pontoons and toward the boat's propeller, said Dan Martin, the commission's chief boating safety officer. In one case this year, a small child was almost killed that way.
Second, commissioners gave preliminary approval to a proposal that makes it unlawful for a boat owner to knowingly allow someone who should have a boating safety certificate but doesn't to operate their craft.
Both rules will come up for final approval when commissioners next meeting in October.
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, July 19, 2009
If you're going fishing this summer or hunting this fall, you still have to display your license at all times.
But that may not be the case for long, in one of those situations anyway.
Legislation that would remove the requirement that hunters wear their license rather than carry it in a wallet — House Bill 460 — was introduced earlier this year. It's not been signed into law, or even moved out of the House Game and Fisheries Committee yet.
It's been introduced, though, by state Rep. Neal Goodman, a Schuylkill County Democrat.
In the meantime, hunters need to be aware that the display rule still applies. There's apparently been some confusion about that.
Pennsylvania Game Commissioner Tom Boop of Northumberland County said he's been fielding phone calls from hunters wondering if the rule still applies. It does, he said.
"It doesn't necessarily need to be on your back any more, but it does need to be displayed on your person. It could be in a fishing license holder on your hat or on your back or wherever, but it does have to be displayed," Boop said.
That rule is explained on page 84 of the hunting and trapping digest that hunters get when they buy their license, he said.
As for fishing licenses, there is no pending legislation that would allow anglers to carry them in a wallet rather than display them on their bodies, and, if officials with that agency have their way, there won't be.
Some Fish and Boat Commissioners — having been questioned by anglers as to why they need to display their license — were considering whether to pursue a regulatory change to get rid of the display rules. But they decided against it this past week.
They came to that conclusion after being convinced that there are a whole host of reasons why a display requirement is a good thing.
For starters, conservation officers can more quickly and more easily tell if a person is fishing legally if their license is visible, said Tom Kamerzel, director of the commission's bureau of law enforcement. That's less intrusive for the angler, he said. It allows landowners and other sportsmen to get information on those breaking the law, he added. And it brings in money to the commission.
When California first required anglers to wear their license beginning in 1994, sales increased dramatically, Kamerzel said. Previously — when there was no easy way to tell who had a license and who didn't — many people apparently fished without one.
Law-abiding sportsmen can appreciate the importance of that change, he said.
"Honest people don't want to be supporting ones who aren't," Kamerzel said.
Those arguments were enough to convince commissioners that the fishing license display requirements are fine as is.
"I don't see any problem with displaying your license," said commissioner Tom Shetterly of Charleroi.
"It's a positive thing, it's not a negative thing," agreed commissioner Bob Bachman of Lancaster County.
More proposed changes
Fish and Boat Commissioners did take the first steps toward changing a couple of other rules this past week.
First, they gave preliminary approval to a regulation that would make it illegal for anyone to ride outside the normal passenger area on a pontoon boats, regardless of the boat's speed.
If a person on a deck outside the railed seating area on a pontoon boats falls overboard, the first thing that happens is that they're swept between the pontoons and toward the boat's propeller, said Dan Martin, the commission's chief boating safety officer. In one case this year, a small child was almost killed that way.
Second, commissioners gave preliminary approval to a proposal that makes it unlawful for a boat owner to knowingly allow someone who should have a boating safety certificate but doesn't to operate their craft.
Both rules will come up for final approval when commissioners next meeting in October.