[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6370451,"mediaKeyId","2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04","parentId",2151286,"title","Farm Bureau and sportsmen back Sunday hunting, stronger trespass tools to address crop damage","audioSeconds",170,"startMs",1496000,"endMs",1666000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04&start=1496&end=1666","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04/thumbnail_1496000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6370451/Pennsylvania/Farm-Bureau-and-sportsmen-back-Sunday-hunting-stronger-trespass-tools-to-address-crop-damage","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6370451-d38bf84e3062846e218db703f6299cd5/orig.mp4?Expires=1771168694&Signature=LiZjkrRpz3peHJSainYQ7LAm0-tlbKjpmfuafxqlhJDCESSwiq5gTLFm9Jg9R~zjPY9yS5u4R3JLRncyqErxRVru4Vj~wt0Gy4VM4D89XqQnokg505G4QQHgGobUpjPsMEcvvyYPd0rpmQLJoprFh3KbGUoWdvjJOpeV2EKQgN0DSV45rtHyOk2A0yh1dWrLtK0orE~0d~lLBdJc9JnMH73~XeEQ3rLeb47ipGRmR9CGaz5PTEGgJcaUfcVC4a7Tl4fGYdeS0r7ye-sWqQSObU5mwgyYR2xPlfJxYke1flMwFtR6-UwbgrvbnO7P8Beu0TxpvDMFxPzeYHGJFmneIw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","PA Game Commission","date","2025-01-25T00:00:00Z","article","Representatives of agriculture and sportsmen told the Pennsylvania Game Commission during public comment that crop damage is a major financial issue for farmers and urged practical measures including Sunday hunting, better trespass enforcement and tools to connect landowners with reputable hunters.

Mitchell Kerrick, state and local affairs specialist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said crop damage has cost farmers \"millions of dollars annually\" and that his organization supports Sunday hunting as one tool to reduce agricultural losses. Kerrick said Farm Bureau policy is developed through a grassroots county-level process and that the organization's support for Sunday hunting was driven by members' concerns about crop damage.

Kerrick asked for complementary measures: stronger trespass laws, an updated system to connect farmers with reputable hunters and increased representation for agricultural landowners on the Game Commission or its advisory processes. \"Moving forward, our continued support of Sunday hunting is contingent on practical measures, such as stronger trespass laws, updating a system to connect farmers with reputable hunters, and ensuring agricultural landowners have adequate representation on this board,\" Kerrick said.

Ed Sadler and other federation speakers said the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists supports Sunday hunting and related wildlife-committee measures adopted for review, and expressed appreciation that the commission is pausing other changes until impacts of recent reforms are evaluated. Mike Kriner encouraged public engagement with the commission and urged landowners and hunters to stay involved in the policy process.

Why it matters: crop damage affects farm incomes and local economies and is a frequent consideration in season-setting and permit programs. Commenters asked the commission to treat Sunday hunting as one of several management tools tied to enforcement and landowner-hunter coordination.

No formal policy change was recorded during the public-comment period.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of Game Commissioners January 25, 2025 (3)","oneSentenceSummary","Representatives from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists told commissioners that crop damage is a significant financial burden for farmers and said Sunday hunting, stronger trespass laws and improved hunter-farmer connections are needed to help manage wildlife impacts.","taxTitle","Game Commission, TOURISM & RECREATION, Executive Departments, Organizations, Executive, Pennsylvania","taxId",17209,"location","Pennsylvania","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6370456,"Retired Game Commission employee urges continued land acquisition to support hunting and Clean Streams work",285,369000,654000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04&start=369&end=654","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04/thumbnail_369000.jpg","/articles/6370456/Pennsylvania/Retired-Game-Commission-employee-urges-continued-land-acquisition-to-support-hunting-and-Clean-Streams-work","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6370456-961007068d33bd08f9c89535aadf7fe1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771168694&Signature=GlD6P67LPhEJxBrNPaDP9-mzZaJ3ZxaxdWbd1ljANIPTKaV1Tn5R8A4QC6hhqKpF3-TUQvlBtlrnET-Hb8LfBvIHDfjwxREoNCU88ZguFO5sOppmMO01sagIRj-dju~2BntsKMo3SJiJfzpINXBm~~AibNCKlhYhG8WCYhcaaPR9P24DKlgpLcPNBmxdAscHm7TmdH43M03DDYgKdDMeDeCn-35RumTZMIb8E5lKMmv63xXob2wz4eg21T6gTb4JXWjMVmZ2X83n1Eg8Ej3IfaC5eXBwhVLrwPYRVCjGrv7XCWpVfnAwLLGUl-s-ndDoYHfJjQpPIUN3PlXSeMmJSw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A retired Pennsylvania Game Commission employee told commissioners that the agency's century-long land-acquisition program created public hunting access and revenue streams and urged continued purchases to both secure hunting access and to support stream reclamation projects.

Dennis Dusa, who retired from the commission in April 2012 after 35 years with the agency, said acquisitions over the last 100 years provided public hunting land and generated revenue through timber sales, right-of-way leases and payments related to natural-gas development. \"The amount of money currently in the game fund is jaw dropping,\" Dusa said. He told the commission that buying land can help offset disruptions from gas development and that purchasing parcels adjacent to polluted streams is a way the Game Commission can participate in the Clean Streams initiative without transferring game-fund dollars directly to other programs.

Dusa described partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation on watershed-treatment projects where securing public land along stream corridors helped restore aquatic life. He suggested commissions take site visits to treatment plants and cited examples in the northern-central part of the state, saying reclamation work returned trout to previously orange, biologically dead streams.

Why it matters: public-land acquisition affects public access, habitat management and how state agencies can coordinate reclamation projects. Dusa urged the commission to keep seeking purchase opportunities and to view acquisition as an investment that can expand hunting opportunity and support watershed cleanup.

No formal action on land-acquisition policy was taken during the public-comment period. The commission recessed for a short break after public testimony.","At public comment, a former Pennsylvania Game Commission staffer said long-term land purchases funded from the game fund created hunting opportunities and recommended buying tracts along polluted streams to support the Clean Streams initiative and water reclamation partnerships.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6370461,"Public commenters link decades-long youth decline to falling hunting-license sales, urge Saturday rifle opener",1428,31000,1459000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04&start=31&end=1459","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2151286-00cf55bf329087971cd53b9c9b8dcf04/thumbnail_31000.jpg","/articles/6370461/Pennsylvania/Public-commenters-link-decades-long-youth-decline-to-falling-hunting-license-sales-urge-Saturday-rifle-opener","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6370461-2276b87f09ff3566d851092d9e64ff8e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771168694&Signature=isuQDnq1LAOYqKzUOkyTwa4rrYuw5SCx3q-AC1KC4v4W~jAmmtFvFAfVkNbEzQ1T0k75MvrDLisjRJCqA07KxHef0Y00yk28wg0ozL6qTcR6EwHMqxBq7eC7Zk~qhnHLSNA-NKdJyV6XoAwuj0SNeSmHI9zIoZVg0wIypP4jizZa8GNxd5ZuZb50P-1rZpL7YmGyAA7j9Z7tuWmQd1usagxjvIOV9zXoEqnwMri70kMNYPRhsbOVdFZUl~ZpPDUgrDxZmUbWtg7rZdCY3T3BwgzW1IrpzOkZ55UO21jJv7i-qQ1qcA2ybJ6mOaedlZ072OLpkqcXhwNuFOkGBrC7rg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Speakers at a Pennsylvania Game Commission public comment session on Oct. 12 told commissioners long-term demographic shifts, not just agency management, help explain a decades-long decline in hunting-license sales and urged policies such as Saturday rifle season openers to make hunting more accessible.

Jonathan Furness, board secretary of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, pointed to Center for Rural Pennsylvania and U.S. Census data and told the commission that Pennsylvania has seen large declines in the population aged 0 to 19 and that decline helps explain falling license numbers. Furness said the state's hunting-license peak came roughly a dozen years after the youth population peak and noted license sales fell from about 1.3 million in 1982 to roughly 850,000 in 2023. \"Some will claim it's a management issue ... but that dog don't hunt,\" Furness said.

Why it matters: hunting-license revenue and active participation affect wildlife-management capacity, public access and the volunteer and commercial networks that sustain hunting. Several commenters told commissioners that opening rifle seasons on Saturdays can increase youth and working-adult participation by making the first day of season more accessible.

Dennis Dusa, a retired Game Commission employee, said Saturday openers \"help school aged children extend their hunting opportunities\" and make it easier for people with limited vacation time to consolidate trips. \"In short, it works,\" Dusa said, urging the commission to keep policies that lower barriers to participation.

John Zemian, a longtime Game Commission field worker and member of the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative, described local observations that support the Saturday opener. \"Since 2019, we've had 10 to 15% more cars parked the first day of hunting season than we did prior to the Saturday, Sunday opener,\" Zemian said, adding that concurrent seasons spread hunters across terrain and increase overall participation.

Other commenters and association representatives echoed the call for accessibility. Ed Sadler, vice president (West) of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, and Mike Kriner of the federation said the organization's membership has grown in recent months and that the federation publicly supports Saturday openers and Sunday hunting as recruitment and management tools.

Speakers also connected licensing trends to aging rural populations. Furness cited Center for Rural Pennsylvania analysis showing an increase in rural seniors and a decline in rural youth and said recent licensing-category additions between 2018 and 2023 have slowed, but not reversed, overall declines.

The public-comment period concluded and the board recessed for a break before the full meeting. No formal commission action was recorded during the comment session.","At a Pennsylvania Game Commission public comment session, hunters and sportsmen\u0000groups cited demographic declines, licensing trends and season-opening timing as drivers of lower license sales and urged policies to recruit new hunters, including keeping or expanding Saturday openers.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Farm Bureau and sportsmen back Sunday hunting, stronger trespass tools to address crop damage

Retired Game Commission employee urges continued land acquisition to support hunting and Clean Streams work

Public commenters link decades-long youth decline to falling hunting-license sales, urge Saturday rifle opener