Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners Prepares for CWD Emergency Action; Board Approves Purchases in Fayette and Huntingdon Counties; Board Approves Exchanges in Armstrong and Cambria Counties; Board Announces Purchases From Auction and Tax Sale; Board Approves Coal Pile Reclamation Project in Centre County; Board Takes Other Actions

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) nearly 10 miles south of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to a revised set of emergency powers enabling the agency's executive director to take actions that will mitigate risk factors and determine the prevalence and geographic distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

"For more than a decade, the Game Commission has been monitoring our CWD status and striving to prevent CWD from coming to our state," said Carl G. Roe, agency executive director. "While I hope that I never have to use these new tools, it is imperative this agency's executive director be empowered to contain the disease to one area and prevent, or at the very least, slow the spread of this disease."

Under the emergency authority, if the executive director concludes the spread of CWD poses a threat within or adjacent to this Commonwealth, he will have the emergency authority to: prohibit the importation of high-risk cervid parts from areas that are known to harbor CWD; and define and designate Disease Management Areas (DMAs) in this Commonwealth.

Once a DMA is designated, the executive director can use his emergency authority to take several actions, including: allowing the taking of cervids without regard to established seasons and bag limits and methods of take; requiring mandatory checking of hunter-killed cervids; prohibiting the removal of high-risk cervid parts; prohibiting the rehabilitation of cervids; prohibiting the use and possession of cervid urine-based attractants; prohibiting the feeding of cervids; and prohibiting any new permits to possess or transport live cervids.

The change in regulations will not impact captive cervid operations, which are under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Agriculture.

In such situations, it will be unlawful for any person to violate any provision of an Executive Order issued by the executive director.

First identified in 1967, CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects cervids, including all species of deer, elk and moose. It is a progressive and always fatal disease of the nervous system.  Scientists theorize CWD is caused by an agent called a prion that is capable of transforming normal brain proteins into an abnormal form, in turn causing the death of brain cells. Prions are present in and shed into the environment by infected animals through blood, urine, saliva and tissue of the central nervous system.

There currently is no practical way to test live animals for CWD, nor is there a vaccine.  Clinical signs include poor posture, lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, rough-hair coat, weight loss, increased thirst, excessive drooling, and, ultimately, death.  There is currently no scientific evidence that CWD has or can spread to humans, either through contact with infected animals or by eating meat of infected animals. The Center for Disease Control has investigated any connection between CWD and the human forms of TSEs and stated "the risk of infection with the CWD agent among hunters is extremely small, if it exists at all" and "it is extremely unlikely that CWD would be a food-borne hazard."

As a preventative effort, the Game Commission prohibits hunters from importing specific carcass parts from members of the deer family – including mule deer, elk and moose – from a growing list of states and Canadian provinces.  The importation ban applies to hunters heading to: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland (only from CWD containment area), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (Oneida and Madison counties), North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia (only from CWD containment area), West Virginia (only from the CWD containment area), Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Details on the importation ban are available on the agency's website and on page 52 of the 2011-12 Digest, which is provided free to each Pennsylvania hunting and furtaker license buyer.

For more information on CWD and the state's CWD-prevention plan, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Wildlife" in the menu bar in the banner at the top of the page, then click on "Wildlife Diseases Home," and choose "Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)." Additional information on CWD can be found on the CWD Alliance's website (www.cwd-info.org).

BOARD APPROVES PURCHASES IN FAYETTE AND HUNTINGDON COUNTIES
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved two land purchases to enhance and protect State Game Lands in Fayette and Huntingdon counties.

The first purchase approved involved 115 acres in German Township, Fayette County, adjoining State Game Land 238. The Board approved purchasing the tract from the Estate of Tito Tiberi for a lump sum payment of $100,000, which will be paid with funds from third party commitments for compensation of habitat and recreational losses associated with installing an above-ground temporary waterline on an existing right-of-way across State Game Lands.  

About 100 acres of the property is forested, primarily with northern hardwood. There are multiple forest openings covering 10 acres, with an additional five acres of shrub lands and reverting old fields.  The northeast portion of the parcel has significant frontage on State Route 166.  This tract joins two separate parcels of SGL 238, and has an internal road network that connects to existing SGL roads.

The second purchase approved involves 413 acres in Dublin and Springfield townships, Huntingdon County, adjoining SGL 81. The Board approved purchasing the three tracts from Menno Z. and Martha H. Hoover for $745,000, which will be paid with escrowed funds from the land exchange on SGL 176 with the Pennsylvania State University. The purchase will require approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as federal Pittman-Robertson dollars are involved.  

The property is forested with mixed oak, hickory and white pine in various stages of regeneration. The property will fill in a large indenture and provides much needed access into SGL 81 from Township Road 301.

BOARD APPROVES EXCHANGES IN ARMSTRONG AND CAMBRIA COUNTIES
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved two land exchanges involving State Game Lands in Armstrong and Cambria counties.

The first exchange approved by the Board involves SGL 287 in Armstrong County.  Under the terms of the exchange, the Game Commission will receive from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) a 2.825-acre parcel, in Boggs Township, as replacement land for 0.65 acres of SGL 287. The 0.65 acres of SGL 287, also in Boggs Township, deeded to PennDOT by the Game Commission, was needed during an emergency road repair to correct a landslide on a section of State Route 1031, and was referred to as the Limeback Slide Area Project. The replacement land is forested and is just north of the project area.

The second exchange approved by the Board involves SGL 79 in Cambria County. Under the terms of the exchange, the Nanty Glo Water Authority will receive a right-of-way that is 6,750 feet long and 20 feet wide, and another right-of-way that is 54 feet long and 20 feet wide across SGL 79.

In exchange, the Game Commission will receive 2.65 acres in Jackson Township, Cambria County, adjoining SGL 79. The Authority reserves, from the tract being conveyed to the Game Commission, a 25-foot-wide easement along the current border of SGL 79 and a 25-foot-wide easement along that part of the tract which adjoins Ogden Road. The tract is forested with young cherry, maple and beech and has hemlock in the bottomland.  Stewart Run, a stocked trout stream, bisects the property.

BOARD ANNOUNCES PURCHASES FROM AUCTION AND TAX SALE
Utilizing authority given to it by the Board of Game Commissioners to protect the integrity of State Game Lands, the Pennsylvania Game Commission staff recently acquired 896 fractional mineral interest acres for $19,600 on seven tracts in Dean and White Townships, Cambria County under SGL 108.  

Using this new authority, the Game Commission was the successful bidder at a tax sale held at the Cambria County Courthouse, on May 20, to purchase the mineral rights or fractional interests. Those bids won by the Game Commission involved: 22 acres of coal rights for $1,650; 22 acres of coal rights for $375; two acres of coal rights for $575; 400 acres of coal rights for $9,575; 300 acres of coal rights for $4,150; 88 acres of coal rights for $1,725; and 62 acres of coal rights for $1,550.

Under the regulations, the staff is required to announce the results of any winning bids at a meeting of the Board of Game Commissioners.

BOARD APPROVES COAL PILE RECLAMATION PROJECT IN CENTRE COUNTY
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved a coal refuse pile reclamation lease on State Game Land 100 in Centre County.

Under the terms of the lease, Waroquier Coal Inc., of Clearfield, will mine and remove abandoned coal refuse on about 15.5 acres of SGL 100, of which 3.7 acres consist of un-reclaimed coal refuse spoil piles to be removed.  The remaining project acreage will be utilized for access to the coal refuse removal site, reclamation of an abandoned surface mine pit and highwall, construction of erosion and sedimentation controls and operational support.

The accumulated coal refuse royalty value is estimated at $25,000.  Removal and reclamation of the spoil piles will reduce ongoing pollution into Contrary Run, provide for improved water quality and offer potential wetland restoration along Contrary Run. The project will be regulated by the state's surface mining regulations and the Game Commission's coal refuse removal and reclamation lease agreement.  

Further, Waroquier Coal will implement a site-specific wildlife habitat and reclamation plan prepared by the Game Commission's local Land Management Group Supervisor. No merchantable timber is to be affected by this reclamation operation.    

In exchange for the coal refuse removal and reclamation project, Waroquier Coal will pay the Game Commission a royalty of 10 percent of FOB pit price or a minimum of 50-cents per ton, whichever the greater, for each ton of coal refuse mined and removed from the site.  Monies received for the sale of coal will be credited to the reclamation cost of the abandoned high wall and mine spoils within the project area. Any remaining royalties will be deposited into the Game Fund.

BOARD TAKES OTHER ACTIONS

In other action today, the Board of Game Commissioners:

• Gave final approval to a regulatory change to reduce the applicability of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) tag to bobcats and  international exports only. CITES is a comprehensive conservation treaty signed by 175 countries, including the United States, which regulates the commercial trade of wildlife species and works to ensure that international trade of species is sustainable and does not threaten their survival.  In relevant part, CITES requires permanent tags to be affixed to carcasses or parts of species being exported internationally. The bobcat, while not threatened with extinction, is listed in CITES and trade is controlled in order to protect endangered cats that have fur and parts similar in appearance; therefore, CITES applies to international exportation of this species;

• Accepted management plans presented by the Bureau of Wildlife Management for northern bobwhite quail and ruffed grouse.  Preliminary management plans for these two species had been presented at the Board's June meeting, and were placed on the agency's website for public comment.  After reviewing public comment and making any necessary changes, the staff prepared the final reports for the Board's consideration today.  Both plans soon will be placed on the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us); and

• Established the first quarterly Board meeting of 2012 to be held on Jan. 22-24, at the agency's Harrisburg headquarters.  The Board will establish the dates of the other quarterly meeting of 2012 at its January meeting.

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SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission