Postponed stockings are rescheduled

Trout stockings at five Westmoreland County lakes postponed from Feb. 13 because of bad weather have been rescheduled for March 2.

Donegal Lake, Keystone Lake, Northmoreland Lake, Mammoth Dam and Lower Twin Lake are to be stocked by a commercial hatchery under contract to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Agency conducting exercise about CWD

Pennsylvania Game Commission officials have begun a simulation exercise to test the agency’s readiness to respond to suspected cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in seven areas of the state.

The decision to hold the drill came from two meetings to review and update the state’s response plan, as well as the agency’s internal operational plan.

The drill began on Feb. 19. The response team will meet Feb. 27 in State College review its actions and decisions and consider modifications to improve the response plan.

CWD has never been found in Pennsylvania. Nearly 200 elk and more than 10,000 deer killed by hunters in Pennsylvania over the past five and four years, respectively. Since 1998, nearly 500 deer that have died of unknown illness also have been tested.

State agencies plan bass workshop

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will hold the seventh annual Pennsylvania Black Bass Workshop May 4 at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie. The theme is “Lake Erie Black Bass Population Dynamics,” and the focus is on Great Lakes bass management in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.

The workshop, open to anyone interested in black bass conservation, is designed for bass anglers, fishery biologists, conservation officers, educators, state and federal agency officials, and park, facility and other resource managers.

Registration and information: Linda Woznicki, Bureau of State Parks, 301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 1, Erie, PA, by telephone at 833-7424 or e-mail: lwoznickistate.pa.us.

Hunting license sales decline now 2 percent

General hunting license sales figures as of the end of January are now only 2 percent below the same time last year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reports.

Late last summer, the agency’s critics seized on a 40-percent deficit at the end of August as evidence that hunters no longer supported the game commission’s programs. But, the gap declined steadily through the fall.

As of Jan. 31, archery tags were just 1 percent behind last year while muzzleloader licenses were down 2 percent, antlerless permits were 4 percent, furtaker license sales increased by 11 percent and both bear and migratory bird stamps were down 3 percent.

Ohio residents plead in Clearfield County case

What started out as an investigation about illegally dumped deer carcasses resulted in six Ohio residents pleading guilty to numerous charges filed by Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Dave Stewart for illegally killing five deer in Clearfield County.

On Oct. 2, Stewart received information regarding a deer carcass and entrails found along Blackwell Road in Huston Township, Clearfield County. While investigating, he obtained further information that led him to the group of Ohio residents who were staying at Parker Dam State Park. Stewart used forensic techniques to determine that five of the six deer taken by the group had been killed illegally on a Sunday.

Groups open lifetime membership to dogs

Pheasants Forever (PF) and its quail division, Quail Forever (QF), have announced that lifetime memberships are now available for dogs.

The first four dogs to become lifetime members did so in January at National Pheasant Fest in Des Moines, Iowa.

For a donation of $500, dogs become lifetime members and receive a Life Membership card, decal and pin, recognition in the PF or QF Annual Report and a leather collar with name and phone number options.