PGC Hunting License Increase Legislation

By Don Heckman, WTM Committee Chairman

August 14, 2006

Pennsylvania Chapter NWTF and our 82 local chapters support and fund wild turkey management projects for the betterment of the wild turkey resource and turkey hunting. Through opportunities provided by PGC, DCNR, ANF, and Corps of Engineers NWTF volunteers have met the past challenges of habitat improvement, land acquisition, turkey hunter safety education, and wild turkey management.

While our turkey management goals include supporting and funding "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys in Pennsylvania', we also support PGC efforts for all wildlife and game lands management, law enforcement, and hunting and trapping information education services and programs.

Improving wildlife habitat, creating new game lands habitat as opportunities become available, and habitat management planning are key objectives for Pennsylvania's wildlife.   

For PGC to come up to full staffing requirements, provide for WCO education and training, to function in the 21st Century as directed by their strategic plan, and numerous species management plans, additional revenue is vital to meet future fiscal requirements and responsibilities.  Cost of doing business has escalated over the past 10 years, and will escalate as much if not more over the next 10 years. 

PGC communications, outreach programs, and on-going services and planning projects require fiscal management to meet financial requirements. In order to provide expected results, PGC revenue must increase over the next 10 years to meet future business and strategic planning goals.

Increasing hunting license and tags through legislation and alternative funding sources are being reviewed on Capitol Hill.  Hunting license legislation in the form of HB 2601 has been introduced and is in the House Game and Fisheries Committee.  This legislation will provide additional yearly revenue to support PGC programs and services when signed into law.  

HB 2601 includes a turkey hunting license to further fund the PGC Game Fund.  The Pa. Chapter NWTF supports the turkey hunting license, which would provide  additional revenue to support the PGC's "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania" and all species management plans.  

The $5 resident license fee, $20 non-resident license fee, will be two-fold for turkey management .  First, the revenue generated from the license fee can be used to fund the wild turkey management plans 7 objectives and 29 strategies.  Second, with proper management tools available to collect research and field data, and turkey hunter data, wild turkey biologists will be able to continue recommending and supporting future turkey hunting opportunities as wild turkey populations continue their current  expansion and population trending.    

Why Should Turkey Hunters Support a Turkey Hunting License?

• State-wide wild turkey population peaked above 400,000 in 2001; 10 year state-wide average is around the 344,000.
• When it comes to turkey hunting, we are in the "good old days" — but those times may not always be here.
• With more than 305,000 estimated turkey hunters and prior to 2006 relatively little work dedicated specifically to research and management of the wild turkey resource and turkey hunters, these "good old days" could quickly become a thing of the past. 
• A steady source of funding for the PGC "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania" will allow the Game Commission to manage wild turkeys and turkey hunting more efficiently and effectively.  PGC site link is http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=466&q=165560
• PGC current wild turkey management plan is being revised from a 5-year 1999-2003 to 10-year plan 2006-2016, has not been fully implemented because of a lack of adequate funding. 

How Will a Turkey Hunting License Help?

• Improved and more detailed information on wild turkey harvests will become available.
• Better research data to provide the information biologists need to make management decisions.
• Leg banding and radio telemetry studies will provide better research data and information to the Game Commission for their needs to make management decisions.
• More habitat improvement projects helping to increase turkey populations and improve all wildlife habitats.
• Turkey hunter safety material will be provided directly to turkey hunters. Turkey hunting safety could be improved.
• Better law enforcement aimed specifically at wild turkey violations.
• Determine how many turkey hunters there are in Pennsylvania, allowing biologists to make turkey management decision recommendations based on factual turkey hunter density numbers, not on estimates.

How Will the Turkey Hunter Benefit?

• This license will help ensure the future of the hunting you enjoy.
• Funds will provide turkey hunters with specific turkey hunting and turkey biology information, turkey hunting safety and ethics material.
• Turkey hunter surveys will give you the ability to express your concerns and opinions about turkey management in Pennsylvania.
• Additional funds could be used for purchasing more game lands, providing additional public lands to hunt.
• Habitat enhancement projects on state and federal lands will attract turkeys to these lands, providing additional hunting opportunities.
• Better research data and hunting information about our turkey populations could result in expanded hunting opportunities in the future.

Wild Turkey biologist collected research data and developed turkey management regulations to properly manage the resource from the 1950's to the late 1990's. No state-wide wild turkey research projects have been started or completed prior to 2006.  Many regional research projects have been completed from the 1950's to the 1980's.  TMA 7B wild turkey task force and research project, now called WMU 5A, was conducted from 1996-2006.    

The first ever state-wide wild turkey research project was started in January 2006 with the gobbler leg band study. This study is partially funded through the National Wild Turkey Federation Research Grant-In-Aid program.

Through trap and transfer and conservative seasons and bag limits, wild turkey populations have now expanded their home range into new regions of Pennsylvania, and double their population numbers in this past 20 years. To continue expanding and increasing populations the PGC "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania" needs to be fully funded, all objectives followed and all strategies implemented.  

Our wild turkey resource is a valuable asset to Pennsylvania. We have managed the resource for nearly a century using the most basic information available to biologists. In the 21st century, it is time to manage wild turkeys with the best available research and data. A turkey hunting license would be able to fund additional wild turkey research, improve methods to provide better wild turkey management data, provide turkey hunter information, and ensure a bright future for these great birds in Pennsylvania.