When sportsmen and conservation groups heard about the provision in Pennsylvania House Bill 1300 that would transfer $150 million from the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Game Fund to the state’s Clean Streams Fund, they rallied en mass to show their disdain for the potential raiding of revenues that would ultimately have a severe impact on wildlife and conservation in the state.
Now, in large part due to their outcry, that provision has been removed from the fiscal bill before its final version is approved by the State Legislature.
According to the Sportsmen’s Alliance, the House amended the bill late last week to remove the provision that would have transferred $150 million in PGC oil and gas lease revenues from the Game Fund. The revised version of the bill was approved 121 to 82 by the House and now awaits a concurrence vote in the Senate.
“We remain hopeful that the Senate will concur with the House decision to remove the $150 (million) diversion when it takes up HB 1300 again,” said Todd Adkins, vice president of government affairs for Sportsmen’s Alliance. “The first opportunity for that, to our understanding, is Oct. 16. We are continuing to alert our members and supporters to keep the pressure on the Senate to get this done.”
Adkins said he feels the House responded to the massive outcry from sportsmen’s groups all across the state, with the Sportsmen’s Alliance and others alerting their members to support the removal of the diversion.
“This is an example of sportsmen responding when a direct attack on our interests has taken place,” Adkins said. “We’ve learned that constant vigilance is the key to protecting our future and the continuing conservation legacy we have built over the last century-plus.”
Bob Schwalm, the PGC Board of Game Commissioners representative for District 9, which includes the Lehigh Valley, said he is extremely proud of the state’s sportsmen and women for their efforts in denouncing the addendum to HB 1300.
“I’m most grateful to our legislators for their efforts in doing the right thing, as I knew they would,” Schwalm said. “This was a negative that had such a positive impact — the fact that so many PA sportsmen and women stood united in opposition, not against the Clean Streams Act, which I believe to be very important, but only in the attempt on how to finance it…
“I personally hope that we can all stay united as we have witnessed throughout the past weeks and continue to work together — both legislators and hunters/conservationists — towards the betterment of wildlife conservation here in the Commonwealth. We owe this commitment to our future.”
The original HB 1300 authored in the House did not contain the provision redirecting $150 million in PGC oil and gas lease revenues, derived from State Game Lands, into the Clean Streams Fund; however, the bill was amended in the Senate as it went through the legislative process.
In addition to losing the $150 million in earned revenues, the PGC is also facing a double whammy if the legislation with that provision is approved because it stands to lose an additional $30-$40 million in Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act funding.
The reason for the potential loss in additional revenues is that the U.S. Department of the Interior considers revenues derived from leases or fees to properties like State Game Lands as revenues for the purpose of Pittman-Robertson funding.
Pittman-Robertson funds are essentially federal grants for fish and wildlife restoration, habitat and conservation that are generated via an excise tax on hunting and shooting equipment and distributed to states based, in part, on sporting license sales and revenues. Last year, the PGC received more than $37 million in Pittman-Robertson funding.
“The Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) is happy to see that the diversion of funds has been remitted from HB 1300,” said Don Rank, BHA’s Pennsylvania Chapter chairman. “This not only protects vital funding for conservation in Pennsylvania but also ensures that the state will remain eligible to receive Pittman-Robertson funds from the federal government.
“We believe the language was removed in response to the large outcry from sportsmen and women along with numerous hunting, fishing and conservation organizations. BHA made several visits to Harrisburg to meet with legislators concerning this issue. Along with BHA, upwards of 20 organizations provided letters of opposition to the amendment.”
David Boston, president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), echoed similar thoughts.
“The Pennsylvania State Chapter of the NWTF is pleased that the House removed language taking $150 million from the sportsmen and women of our state,” Boston said. “Amending HB 1300 to do away with language that confiscated $150 million from the Game Fund will also eliminate the potential loss of Pittman-Robertson funds. Protecting programs supported by these funds will benefit all hunters in the Keystone State.
“A large number of hunters, conservation organizations and local sportsmen’s clubs came together to oppose HB 1300. This has served as a wakeup call to the sportsmen and women of Pennsylvania. Conservation organizations like the NWTF, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen & Conservationists and other groups will now be more vigilant, closely monitoring our legislature and be prepared to act quickly to protect our hunting heritage.”
