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PFSC Testimony Joint
Committee Hearing Senate
Game & Fisheries Committee Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee View PA Game Commission Testimony View PA Taxidermist Association
Testimony View PA Deer
Farmers Association Testimony Committee Chairs and Committee
members, good morning, my name is While many of you may be quite
familiar with the controversy surrounding the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s
(PGC) deer management plan that controversy pales in comparison to the impact
CWD may have with regards to the future of our deer herd. Regardless of your opinion concerning PGC
deer management policies, I think we all understand that the ultimate
difference between these two issues is that of control. There are many management tools that can be
implemented to control the deer herd, whether you want it larger or smaller;
however, there are no tools or easy solutions to preventing, managing or
controlling CWD. Short of annihilation
of the entire deer herd, we can only hope to attempt to prevent it from
entering the Commonwealth and/or containing it as quickly as possible if, or
more likely, when it is discovered here. I do not think I need to provide a
detailed explanation of the economic devastation that could occur should the
Commonwealth incur a large-scale CWD outbreak. Besides the obvious impacts to deer
hunting, our minimal elk herd also faces potential extermination, along with
corresponding impacts to captive cervid
populations, which are abundant within the Commonwealth. This administration has made substantial
progress in the past few years in promoting tourism through the PA WILDS
project, which revolves almost entirely around our wild elk herd. An outbreak of CWD within that herd will
have a devastating impact on not only tourism, but will most likely be the
demise of our relatively new elk hunting season. While we certainly applaud past and
current efforts of the PGC and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
(PDA), most notably, the Order of Quarantine issued and the mandatory monitoring/surveillance
program initiated for all captive cervids by the
PDA effective October 1, much more needs to be done,
and done soon. Thousands of our
sportsmen hunt those states and provinces (ten in all) listed in that Order
of Quarantine. We need an extensive
educational effort to reach those individuals, as well as meat processors and
taxidermists that may provide services to sportsmen hunting those quarantined
areas as well as sportsmen hunting here in the Commonwealth. We do not need to intimidate people through
heavy-handed law enforcement efforts and unnecessary “red tape”; rather we
need to educate them to become partners in preventing CWD from gaining a
foothold in the Commonwealth. However,
should an individual blatantly continue to fail to attempt to abide by the
regulations, the penalties should be substantial enough to act as a real
deterrent. Now would be the time to revisit the Interstate
Wildlife Compact bill, proposed and passed by the Senate before, but never
successfully gaining passage by both Houses.
Although many perceived it to be focused strictly on reciprocity for
law enforcement violations, such legislation would provide a basis for
cooperation from some of the quarantined states. Such cooperation would enhance educational
efforts and enable the PGC to access lists of our residents that hunt those
affected states. We also need immediate
implementation of the proposed point of sale for hunting licenses. It is difficult for the PGC to communicate with
one million license buyers when their addresses are stored in shoeboxes in a
warehouse. It is hard to believe that
in this age of technology, we have virtually no access to computerized
information on a million license buyers.
While there is never a good time for
a crisis like CWD, it is unfortunate that such a crisis would have to arise
at a time when the PGC is facing a financial crisis of its own. For several years the agency has indicated
their growing need for a hunting license increase. At the October PGC meeting, the PGC
Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution indicating their need for
increased revenues, and several sportsmen’s organizations have formed a
coalition in support of a license increase and have worked together to present
a proposal for that increase. We ask
that you and your colleagues move forward with legislation for such an
increase, and soon, so the agency can move forward with point of sale and
necessary CWD initiatives. This is neither just a PGC problem nor just a
PDA problem, this is OUR problem, and we need to form partnerships with
everyone, from captive cervid owners, to sportsmen,
to taxidermists, to neighboring and quarantined states. Adequate funding for both the PGC and the
PDA, is absolutely critical for not only providing an effective educational
outreach program, but also for surveillance and monitoring programs, and for
quickly and effectively dealing with any outbreaks. Increasing our efforts to prevent CWD from
entering this state is a monumental task and will take additional funding
along with possible additional legislation.
But being unprepared and finding it after a full-scale outbreak would
lead to substantially higher and devastating costs. We urge you to begin work immediately on
those legislative initiatives needed to adequately deal with the CWD issue,
and we urge the PGC and PDA to continue to work together and with all the
other stakeholder groups, and be aggressively proactive in dealing with the
issue. Our organization is ready and
willing to assist the agencies and the legislature in these efforts. Thank
you. |