“PGC board slows plan to reintroduce Martin”
In case you missed it.
By Joe Ewing, High Hareman
of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny
In an article in the July 21st issue of the PENNSYLVANIA Outdoor News by Tom Venesky, reporting on the July 8th quarterly meeting of the Commission reports, the Commission voted to delay the next step of the American Marten Reintroduction Plan. “During the board’s July 8 meeting, commissioners were expected to vote on a proposal to make the reintroduction plan available for public review.”
However, the vote was tabled due to the fact that a public opinion survey was not completed. A Virginia company is conducting a public opinion survey. The reason for tabling is “time to allow for that survey to be completed and the results to be made available to the board and the public,” board president Schnepp-Giger said.
Representatives from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry and a representative from the newly formed Pennsylvania Martin Restoration Project spoke in vague terms of the numerous benefits the Martin will bring.
The Editor of the News, Jeff Mulhollem, commented that he was not surprised the commissioners “tapped the brakes” on the plan saying, “Surely they have heard overwhelming opposition from hunters and a few lawmakers to bringing the little predator back, same as we have.”
