Vote scheduled to ban all hiking in PA. Game Lands for 130 DAYS per year

[JPZenger]

9. I never thought of hikers buying hunting permits

Thanks for posting the full proposed regs. I never thought of the concept of hikers buying hunting permits.

A legal requirement that hikers meet the orange requirement would address legitimate safety issues, and would be much less onerous than a ban on hiking - especially during April and May.

The hiking group I belonged to never went out during peak deer season on Game Lands. Sundays was the one exception, when hunting is illegal. However, there have been recent proposals to remove the Sunday hunting ban in PA.

There were some legitimate concerns about mountain bikers causing erosion damage because they didn't stay on trails. I guess a permit system was a way to try to go after the people creating the problems - because the same people who cause the problems would be the same ones who wouldn't get a permit.

I think part of the problem is that the number of hunters may be decreasing, and the Game Commission's funds have not been increasing as fast as they would like. Likewise, the number of people who fish has been decreasing. People are spending much more time indoors.