Post by yihunt on Jul 2, 2010 20:40:13 GMT -4
Central Pennsylvania gets its first wild pheasant recovery area
Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 3:51 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 4:16 PM
MARCUS SCHNECK, The Patriot-News
Central Pennsylvania’s first wild pheasant recovery area became official on Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners unanimously approved the Hegins-Gratz Valley WPRA, which encompasses portions of northeastern Dauphin and western Schuylkill counties.
In WPRAs, pheasant hunting is closed, dog training and all small game hunting is closed from the first Sunday in February through July 31, release of pen-raised pheasants is prohibited. The special regulations are in place while wild-trapped pheasants from South Dakota and Montana are released into the WPRA and for three years after the releases.
The Hegins-Gratz Valley project is the fourth WPRA designated by the commissioners since last year and is best described as becoming official on Tuesday because the long-term work by the commission and partnering conservation organizations to improve habitat conditions for pheasants there was accomplished over several previous years.
In partnership with Pheasants Forever Inc., local Pheasants Forever chapters, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, landowners, farmers and others, prior to the pheasant releases habitat improvements are made within the WPRA.
“There was a lot of CREP area in that region,” noted Commissioner Gregory Isabella./p
CREP is a federally funded, voluntary land retirement program that pays farmers to protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water.
Similar timelines developed on the other three, previously designated WPRAs: Central Susquehanna WPRA in Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties; Somerset WPRA in Somerset County; and Pike Run WPRA in Washington County.
Pointing to recent surveys of wild pheasants on those other WPRAs, Isabella said, “It looks like the program is working” to create viable, naturally reproducing, wild populations of pheasants.
Also at the meeting on Tuesday, the commission revealed that staff has been in discussions with Pheasants Forever and Letterkenny Army Depot at Chambersburg about the possibility of establishing a fifth WPRA, that one in Franklin County.
Calvin DuBrock, director of the commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Management, explained, “It was agreed that southern and western Franklin County should be a high priority for the next WPRA.”
He noted, “There certainly is public interest in this area of Franklin County, but it’s yet to be determined if there is suitable habitat. It is promising.”
Agreeing that there is “some suitable habitat” in the fifth area under consideration, Commissioner Jay Delaney, a steadfast proponent for pheasants on the board of commissioners, pointed out that the original WPRA plan approved by commissioners “is for us to have four WPRAs.”
In addition, he noted, sportsmen and conservation organizations also have proposed two or three other likely WPRA site in other parts of the state
Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 3:51 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 4:16 PM
MARCUS SCHNECK, The Patriot-News
Central Pennsylvania’s first wild pheasant recovery area became official on Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners unanimously approved the Hegins-Gratz Valley WPRA, which encompasses portions of northeastern Dauphin and western Schuylkill counties.
In WPRAs, pheasant hunting is closed, dog training and all small game hunting is closed from the first Sunday in February through July 31, release of pen-raised pheasants is prohibited. The special regulations are in place while wild-trapped pheasants from South Dakota and Montana are released into the WPRA and for three years after the releases.
The Hegins-Gratz Valley project is the fourth WPRA designated by the commissioners since last year and is best described as becoming official on Tuesday because the long-term work by the commission and partnering conservation organizations to improve habitat conditions for pheasants there was accomplished over several previous years.
In partnership with Pheasants Forever Inc., local Pheasants Forever chapters, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, landowners, farmers and others, prior to the pheasant releases habitat improvements are made within the WPRA.
“There was a lot of CREP area in that region,” noted Commissioner Gregory Isabella./p
CREP is a federally funded, voluntary land retirement program that pays farmers to protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water.
Similar timelines developed on the other three, previously designated WPRAs: Central Susquehanna WPRA in Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties; Somerset WPRA in Somerset County; and Pike Run WPRA in Washington County.
Pointing to recent surveys of wild pheasants on those other WPRAs, Isabella said, “It looks like the program is working” to create viable, naturally reproducing, wild populations of pheasants.
Also at the meeting on Tuesday, the commission revealed that staff has been in discussions with Pheasants Forever and Letterkenny Army Depot at Chambersburg about the possibility of establishing a fifth WPRA, that one in Franklin County.
Calvin DuBrock, director of the commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Management, explained, “It was agreed that southern and western Franklin County should be a high priority for the next WPRA.”
He noted, “There certainly is public interest in this area of Franklin County, but it’s yet to be determined if there is suitable habitat. It is promising.”
Agreeing that there is “some suitable habitat” in the fifth area under consideration, Commissioner Jay Delaney, a steadfast proponent for pheasants on the board of commissioners, pointed out that the original WPRA plan approved by commissioners “is for us to have four WPRAs.”
In addition, he noted, sportsmen and conservation organizations also have proposed two or three other likely WPRA site in other parts of the state