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Post by tbass on Apr 16, 2009 8:47:56 GMT -4
I was going through State College and noticed the, impossible to miss, flashing sign on North Atherton Street and the other one on SR322 West. It mentioned controlled burns on SGL 176 from 4/6 to 5/8. I am glad to see they are finally starting to use these things in my area. Although, Scotia is the rich people's playground near Toftrees. It is open to the public of course, it is simply a pet project for the PGC in an area with wealthier people. The rich complain and they jump. It is also the only place they put Pheasants in ALL OF CENTRE COUNTY. Hopefully I am wrong about the continued bias in the care of Scotia over the other SGLs. I would love to see them burn off a lot of other SGLs and State Forrests(pending dcnr approval).
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Post by dougell on Apr 16, 2009 9:23:47 GMT -4
Rich people's playground?I hunted those gamelands alot when I went to Penn state and I was far from rich.What rich people complained?I would say the vast majority of rich people around the state college area have more exclusive places to hunt than SGL 176.What continued bias does SGL 176 recieve?I think you're way off base on this one.
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Post by tbass on Apr 16, 2009 9:38:49 GMT -4
The vast majority of the people who use it are upper middle class and higher. I did not say "only" the rich people. I simply implied they are the norm, not the exception. There has been more money spent on it than most other SGLs. I can say they do a great job on habitat there for birds and dogs though. Why would they spend all this money to create and maintain habitat for birds and stock all of Centre County's allotment of ringnecks there if they were not catering and/or bias? The area along Bald Eagle Valley Road has tons of cover and food. They used to stock birds along there and near Sayers Dam. When I see them spread the birds out and work as hard outside of State College, I'll change my opinion.
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Post by Twowithone on Apr 16, 2009 15:39:55 GMT -4
On this subject of controoled burn,s ben getting replies back saying they would highly consider this measure when it comes to HB.262. Now thats a move in the right direction for sure.
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Post by dougell on Apr 16, 2009 17:54:51 GMT -4
Liability issues have been a huge roadblock but controlled burns still take a huge amount of manpower and they have to be done under the right circumstances.There's also a relatively small window in which they can be done.
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Post by Twowithone on Apr 16, 2009 19:09:16 GMT -4
Yes I know this and the GC. has been doing these for 3 yrs now. HB. 262 will be a big help accomplishing these controoled burns.
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Post by mrlongbeard on Apr 16, 2009 19:22:16 GMT -4
i read about this the other day on the pgc site. it's going to be a great help to woodcock, turkey, deer and all the rest. hopefully they do it more often. as for the rich, the whole sport is going that way, price of bows up every year, the same for guns, fee increases, and don't even bring up the price of land to hunt on anymore. just my .02
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Post by tbass on Apr 16, 2009 19:32:20 GMT -4
Liability issues have been a huge roadblock but controlled burns still take a huge amount of manpower and they have to be done under the right circumstances.There's also a relatively small window in which they can be done. I fully understand that. I spent a lot of years in the fire service and a few on the PA Specialized Crew. A good gust of wind in the wrong direction or a poor fire line and all hell breaks loose. Even with dozens of crew members things can and do go wrong. If they got with some local fire departments, they could get more manpower. I know at one time, if Kenny Barnes(sp) or Oscar Mann from Forestry in Pennfield asked us, we would have thrown together at least a dozen extra guys on a bad day and close to 2 dozen on a good day. We would have used it for experience making fire lines and learning fire behavior first hand. Its also good for new firefighters to learn things as well. This kinda gets me wondering what those fellows have been up to. I know Oscar is no longer with Forestry and in bad health last I heard. Not sure what Kenny is up to these days. As for the House Bill, I sure hope it doesn't give them a free pass to be careless. There is one thing not being liable for an accident but to not be accountable at all is wrong as well.
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Post by crazyhorservn on Apr 16, 2009 20:41:44 GMT -4
Burns are one of the best "Natural" methods of habitat improvement. For too long we have not allowed Mother Nature to work her magic.
As an example, in Yellowstone a couple of decades ago our foresters were concerned because Lodge Pole Pines were not regenerating. Guess what happened? The great Yellowstone fires. That's right, soon after the fire new Lodge Pole Pine growth was observed. The seeds needed fire to burst open and germinate. (So much for what foresters know.)
Who knows what benefits (controled) fire could do for Pennsylvania forests and fields? Let's hope the PGC has sense enough to use burns on many of our Game Lands.
As a side note, New Jersey regularly uses burns on their Wildlife Management Areas which are the equivelent of our Game Lands. They face great danger because of the Pinelands which are mostly Pines and Scrub Oak. Yet they manage it very well. Perhaps the PGC should send a few of their foresters over to Jersey for some basic lessons on how to do burns properly.
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