Fish For Free On Monday

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will hold the first of two annual Fish-for-Free Days on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

Fish-for-Free Days allow anyone (resident or non-resident) to legally fish without a fishing license on all of Pennsylvania’s waterways. All other fishing regulations still apply. A second Fish-for-Free Day is scheduled for July 4.

Merger Of Fish, Game Commissions To Be Studied

Merger Of Fish, Game Commissions To Be Studied — The House voted unanimously, last week, in support of a measure to launch a detailed study of the potential impacts of merging the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Resolution 129 calls on the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the financial feasibility, impact, costs and savings that may be realized by combining the agencies. It also calls on the committee to explore a range of options with regard to how to structure the state’s wildlife agency to best manage the wildlife and aquatic resources of the Commonwealth.

A similar study was conducted 10 years ago, and it showed a merger was feasible and would save money. No legislative action resulted from that study’s findings, however.

The study is expected to take about six months. Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation where management and oversight of fishing, boating and wildlife activities are managed by two separate, independent agencies.

 

Merger Of Fish, Game Commissions To Be Studied

Asian Carp Battle May Be Joined By Feds

Asian Carp Battle May Be Joined By Feds — Sen. Pat Toomey reports that an  amendment he introduced with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to help prevent the invasion of Asian carp in the Ohio River basin will be included in a broader water resources development bill, which makes its passage much more likely.

This amendment would enable the federal government to have a more effective partnership with state and local entities that are working to slow the spread of Asian carp, Toomey said. The Senate agreed unanimously that the Brown-Toomey amendment will be included in the Water Resources Development Act.

“The possible invasion of Asian carp in southwestern Pennsylvania’s iconic three rivers and our state’s beautiful great lake warrants action in Congress, and I am pleased that my colleagues agree that more needs to be done. These waterways are vital for both commerce and recreation, and the federal government must act as a cooperative partner with state and local governments to stop this invasive species and protect the Ohio River basin’s ecosystem and economy. My amendment with Sen. Brown will help do just that, and I applaud the Senate’s strong show of support for it,” he said.


Asian Carp Battle May Be Joined By Feds

Hunters Share The Harvest

Pennsylvania hunters and sportsmen are encouraged by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to consider participating in the state’s Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) program, which provides donations of venison to local food banks, soup kitchens and families in need, says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

Started in 1991, HSH has developed into a refined support service for organizations that assist Pennsylvanians in need. Each year, Hunters Sharing the Harvest helps to deliver almost 200,000 meals to food banks, churches and social services feeding programs.

As part of the program, hunters are encouraged to take a deer to a participating meat processor and identify how much of their deer meat to donate to HSH. If an individual is donating an entire deer, he or she is asked to make a $15 tax-deductible co-pay, and HSH will cover the remaining processing fees. However, a hunter can cover the entire costs of the processing, which is also tax deductible.

To learn more about the program and obtain a list of participating meat processors and county coordinators, visit the Game Commission’s website or go to the HSH website.

Pennsylvania’s HSH program is recognized as one of the most successful among similar programs in about 40 states.

Brazen Fox Of Brookside Road

 

Brazen Fox Of Brookside Road
This fox (right corner by the shed) was photographed shortly before noon, today, April 24 on Brookside Road at Greenhill Road in Springfield, Pa. It ran around the house a few times fascinating the little girl who watched from her storm door and maybe making her mom a bit nervous.
Brazen Fox Of Brookside Road

Trout Season Opens March 31 In Delco

Trout Season opens 8 a.m., March 31 in Delaware County as it does in  Adams, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill and York counties, reminds State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

The opening day for the rest of the state is April 14

Mountain Lions In The Northeast?

Mountain Lions In The Northeast? — Two persons reported seeing a mountain lion the afternoon of Oct. 26 near the Drexelbrook Apartments near Darby Creek in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby, Pa.

Police investigated and declared the sightings unfounded.

Coincidentally, though NBC is reporting that a mountain lion has been seen in Washington D.C.

Interesting coincidences are worth a mention.

About 15 years ago, there was also a spate of mountain lion sightings in Delaware County, Pa..

In the early 1980s, a fisherman  in Crum Creek in Newtown Township thought he saw a tiger. He threw down his rod and reel, a wade a mile through the creek to a road where he flagged down a car to take him to the police station where he reported it. Police investigated with shotguns at the ready. They found the “tiger” to be a striped great dane.


Mountain Lions In The Northeast?

Finch Fuzz Say Respect My Authoritah

Finch Fuzz Say Respect My Authoritah — In the early morning two days after the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era carried a feel-good feature about how a grandmother nursed back to health a house finch found by her German shepherd and how the bird became a pet and followed her around the house singing, a Pennsylvania Game Commission Officer and three armed cops showed up at her door with a warrant.

They wanted the bird. Yes, the grandmother, Pati Mattrick, — OK, she’s a 57-year-old grandmother — had broken the law . Apparently it is illegal in this state to heal a sick bird. One must turn it over to licensed “rehabbers”.

The incident happened in May but is now starting to percolate into the rest of the state and, unfortunately, the nation. Having fools and petty tyrants in authority are never things about which one should boast.

Hopefully, the accompanying cops were restricted to just one bullet each and prohibited from keeping their service weapons loaded.

Kudos to Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman who seems sincerely ticked. “At best, this case was a grossly misguided abuse of law enforcement discretion,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. ” At worst, it was just plain cruel.”

Earlier this month, he decreed that all game officers go through his office to obtain search warrants rather than simply via a local magistrate.

Finch Fuzz Say Respect My Authoritah

Finch Fuzz Say Respect My Authoritah