Post by yihunt on Jan 10, 2010 15:09:12 GMT -4
Pheasant stocking in new plan
Sunday, January 10, 2010
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Part of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's 2009-2014 strategic plan is an "operational objective" to revive the once-popular pheasant stocking program. In a reversal of policy, the agency intends to annually release 200,000 to 250,000 pheasants on public lands and private property that is open to hunters. An additional 15,000 would be released each year to create special junior hunting opportunities, and the number of Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas, in which self-sustaining populations are planted, would be doubled.
In an interview last week, executive director Carl Roe said pheasant hunting is "a tradition we can't loose." It may also be a tradition that's difficult to sustain. To maintain a wild reproducing ring-neck pheasant population, the birds need at least 20,000 contiguous acres of habitat consisting of mixed cropland, grasses, wetlands and brush. Thirty years ago, it was easy to find throughout the state and pheasants flourished. These days, pheasants have hard time finding space.
Roe's two-pronged plan includes a significant put-and-take stocking program and enhancement of the burgeoning pheasant restoration program. Three such areas currently exist -- near Pikes Run in Washington County, and in Montour and Somerset counties. Roe said the new strategic plan calls for expansion of those sites and the establishment of three others.
No funding mechanism for the pheasant program is included in the five-year plan.
"I'd support the idea of a special pheasant license," said Roe, "but I can't even get a license [fee] increase let alone a new license."
Sunday, January 10, 2010
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Part of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's 2009-2014 strategic plan is an "operational objective" to revive the once-popular pheasant stocking program. In a reversal of policy, the agency intends to annually release 200,000 to 250,000 pheasants on public lands and private property that is open to hunters. An additional 15,000 would be released each year to create special junior hunting opportunities, and the number of Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas, in which self-sustaining populations are planted, would be doubled.
In an interview last week, executive director Carl Roe said pheasant hunting is "a tradition we can't loose." It may also be a tradition that's difficult to sustain. To maintain a wild reproducing ring-neck pheasant population, the birds need at least 20,000 contiguous acres of habitat consisting of mixed cropland, grasses, wetlands and brush. Thirty years ago, it was easy to find throughout the state and pheasants flourished. These days, pheasants have hard time finding space.
Roe's two-pronged plan includes a significant put-and-take stocking program and enhancement of the burgeoning pheasant restoration program. Three such areas currently exist -- near Pikes Run in Washington County, and in Montour and Somerset counties. Roe said the new strategic plan calls for expansion of those sites and the establishment of three others.
No funding mechanism for the pheasant program is included in the five-year plan.
"I'd support the idea of a special pheasant license," said Roe, "but I can't even get a license [fee] increase let alone a new license."