{"id":49178,"date":"2025-12-01T17:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T17:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/49178\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T17:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T17:20:10","slug":"notes-off-a-soiled-cuff-thoughts-on-possible-merger-of-pennsylvania-fish-and-game-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/49178\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes off a soiled cuff: Thoughts on possible merger of Pennsylvania fish and game agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first heard about the new study of ways<\/a> the Game and Fish & Boat commissions should work together, immediately I thought of Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman and his comments about a merger of the agencies last year.<\/p>\n

At a budget hearing for both commissions in 2024, his first question to then Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans was abrupt: \u201cWhy do we need you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Then, looking at Tim Schaeffer, Fish & Boat commission executive director, he said, \u201cI mean, why do we need both of you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the hearing, noting that Pennsylvania is the only state in the country to manage fish and wildlife with two separate agencies, Pittman suggested that it\u2019s time to scrap the expensive setup.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes we have a 220-year history of these commissions, and that\u2019s great, but things do change,\u201d he told the directors. \u201cYou are an instrument of this commonwealth \u2013 we created you and we can change you because it might be time to take a fresh look \u2026 to determine whether it may be time for a new, better and more efficient approach on your use of funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how Pittman and other lawmakers respond to the study report from Wildlife Management Institute next year.<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE FROM PENNSYLVANIA OUTDOOR NEWS:<\/a><\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Game Commission dismisses game warden for misconduct<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the weedy truth about early ice panfish<\/a><\/p>\n

Tyler Frantz: Bear hunting is prized, precious in Pennsylvania<\/a><\/p>\n

* One lawmaker who clearly is not looking for a merger of the Game and Fish & Boat commissions is Sen. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties, chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee.<\/p>\n

But he does want to see some of their operations consolidated to make them more efficient.<\/p>\n

I asked him if the agencies were merged, would it make lawmakers look any differently at the big nest egg \u2013 close to $500 million \u2013 that the Game Commission has built up in recent years from windfall Marcellus shale natural gas receipts, emanating from the state game lands it owns.<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers have sought to raid the fund<\/a> to use it for projects that don\u2019t benefit wildlife or hunters and trappers. Rothman\u2019s reply was interesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019ve been probably the loudest since becoming chair of the Senate committee on fish and game, on the fact that that money should be spent \u2013 that they (Game Commission) don\u2019t need to have a huge reserve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been encouraging them to spend the money on capital projects, but not operational. But on the other hand, this may allow them to share some of those resources too, which ultimately will keep license costs low.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took that to mean that some of the Game Commission reserves should be spent on water quality or water-related projects under the auspices of the Fish & Boat Commission. Obviously, some will think that\u2019s a good thing \u2013 others not so much.<\/p>\n

* In this space last issue, I wrongly implied<\/a> that a resolution sponsored by Rep. Jim Haddock would die. Turns out it passed with a later date.<\/p>\n

The House Game and Fisheries Committee approved a resolution to designate this Dec. 27 as \u201cPennsylvania Elk Hunt Day.\u201d This ceremonial resolution recognizes the history and management of the state\u2019s elk population, celebrates the 102nd anniversary of the first regulated hunt and the 25th anniversary of its reinstatement, and raises public awareness about the importance of elk conservation in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I first heard about the new study of ways the Game and Fish & Boat commissions should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4188,9649,28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-49178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-fishing","9":"tag-hunting","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","12":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}