GAME COMMISSION SEEKS CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Game Commission is calling for nominations of citizens and volunteers willing to participate in one of five Citizen Advisory Committees (CACs) to help gather input related to the deer management goal of minimizing deer-human conflicts in five Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in 2008.
Those WMUs identified for next year are: WMU 2A, which consists of Greene County and parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties; WMU 4C, comprising parts of Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties; WMU 4D, comprising parts of Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Snyder and Union counties; WMU 4E, comprising Northumberland and Montour counties and parts of Columbia, Dauphin, Lycoming, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Snyder and Union counties; and WMU 5A, which consist of part of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties.
All nominations will be forwarded to the state Office of Administration's Bureau of Management Consulting, which will interview potential candidates, make selections of participants and facilitate the meetings. The Game Commission does not participate in the selection process, and there is no guarantee that any nominee will be selected or even contacted for an interview.
"Citizens will serve as representatives of specific stakeholder groups and work with other stakeholders to provide a deer population recommendation for each WMU," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "CAC recommendations then will be considered by Game Commission personnel as part of the deer human conflict measure - along with indicators of deer health and forest habitat health - to develop deer management recommendations for the agency's Board of Game Commissioners to consider.
"Nominees and volunteers should be fair and open-minded; have good interpersonal skills; should not hold an officer position in organizations related to the stakeholder group they are seeking to represent; and must be willing to collect input from members of the stakeholder group they represent outside of formal Citizen Advisory Committee meetings."
The CACs provide information to the deer team who then integrates the CACs conclusions into their recommendation to the senior staff and commissioners who ultimately make the decision on deer management for that WMU.
The objectives of CACs include providing an opportunity for: the Game Commission to better understand stakeholder values regarding deer management; stakeholders to interact with Game Commission deer biologists and one another; stakeholders to have input on developing deer population goals that ultimately affect those living in the particular WMU; and the Game Commission to inform stakeholders about the agency's mission, the complexities of deer management, and the importance of proper management.
Stakeholder groups that require representation in all CACs, except where noted, are: resident sportsmen; nonresident sportsmen (4D CAC only); business-direct impact, such as sporting goods stores, taxidermists or deer processors; business-indirect impact, such as restaurant, motel or gas station owners; forest industry; rural non-farm landowner; homeowners in developed areas; highway safety agent; public land owner; conservationist; tourism (4D CAC only); agriculture-nurseries/orchards; and agriculture-livestock/cash crops.
CAC nomination applications can be downloaded from the Game Commission website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on "Deer Program" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage, choosing "Opportunities for Citizen Input," and scrolling down to "Participating in a CAC."
Individuals also may contact the Game Commission by phone at 717-787-5529 to obtain a CAC Nomination Form, which should be returned to the address provided on the application. Only completed nominations submitted on CAC nomination forms will be considered. All nominations must be received by Sept. 15.
For further information, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Deer Program" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage, and then choose "Opportunities for Citizen Input," where additional information can be found, including detailed reports from previous CACs held in WMUs 1B, 2C, 3B, 4B, and 5C.