Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2013 - 58

CURRENTS
As this issue goes to print, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) staff, Commissioners and Boating Armstrong County sportsman Rocco Ali has been sworn Advisory Board members are hard at work explaining the in as the District 2 Commissioner for the Pennsylvania need to exempt the Sport Fish Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC), representing Allegheny, Restoration Program and Boating Armstrong, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington Safety Trust Fund, collectively and Westmoreland counties. called the Trust Funds, from Commissioner Ali was nominated by Governor Tom sequestration and the so-called Corbett on September 18 and was confirmed by the Senate “fiscal cliff.” on October 15. Commissioners serve eight-year terms and The Trust Funds are raised are not compensated for their services. Commissioner Ali’s through excise taxes levied on eight-year term expires on October 15, 2020. fishing tackle and equipment and Commissioner Ali is a clinical supervisor at NovaCare motorboat fuel that the industry Outpatient Center in Butler. He graduated from Geneva Your purchase of pays quarterly to the federal College in Beaver Falls and attended the University of fishing equipment and government. Sportsmen and Pittsburgh for his physical therapy degree. He was awarded motor boat fuels supports women buy the excise-taxable Sport Fish Restoration and a Master’s degree in Orthopedics and Neurology from the items, and those revenues, boating access facilities University of Pittsburgh in 1980. combined with their purchases A life-long outdoor enthusiast, Commissioner Ali spends of fishing licenses and boat registrations, largely determine much of his time hunting, fishing and promoting youth how much funding is allocated annually to state agencies activities related to the outdoors. He is a life member in like PFBC. the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and The projected financial impact of losing 7.6 percent of the National Rifle Association. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania’s portion of the Trust Funds in 2013, $859,000, governor’s Conservation and Natural Resource Advisory would further compound the fiscal challenges highlighted Council. In 2007, he was inducted into the Pennsylvania by PFBC Executive Director John A. Arway in this issue’s Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Hall of Fame. “Straight Talk” column. See page 2. Commissioner Ali is currently the president of Apollo The Trust Funds are the lifeblood of PFBC’s day-to-day Spring Church Sportsmen’s Club and is active with the efforts to restore and manage fisheries and their habitats, Armstrong County Sportsmen and Conservation League. He open and maintain recreational access for all and keep the has received a number of awards from the Sportsmen and public safe by providing boating safety education. If budget Conservation League including “Conservationist of the Year” sequestration takes effect, the agency will have to make in 2006 and an Appreciation Award in 2003. In 2009, he was tough decisions and potentially reduce services like fish presented with the Conservation and Forestry Award by the stocking, access area maintenance, boating education and Armstrong County Conservation District. safety and other programs that Pennsylvania’s anglers and Commissioner Ali and his wife Karen reside in North boaters care about deeply. Apollo. They have five children, four grandchildren and a For 62 years, anglers and boaters have always been Brittany spaniel named Chance. willing to pay a little extra for the excise-taxable gear, knowing that their purchases would directly support conservation along with fishing, boating and other wildlife-related activities. In 1985, Congress passed the Gramm-RudmanHollings Act, which provided that the excise tax revenues going into the Trust Funds were exempt from budget sequestrations; however, it did not specify that the money distributed from the Trust Funds account to state fish and wildlife agencies Up to five years of fishing in one purchase. was exempt from sequestration withholding. Congress can close this gap by amending the Anglers are now able to purchase a license for three years or five years “exemption” provision found in the 1985 Act to with one purchase. That’s right, no more remembering at the last minute to buy a license before opening day or before that weekend fishing include appropriations from such trust funds. opportunity with friends and family. To order and for more information on This proactive step would be the most long-lasting licenses, including receiving a free subscription to the digital version of solution to protect the integrity of the nation’s Pennsylvania Angler & Boater magazine: highly successful users-pay, public-benefits funding system of fish and wildlife conservation. www.GoneFishingPa.com

Commissioner Rocco Ali Sworn in as District 2 Representative

Federal Funding In Jeopardy

CAREFREE & CONVENIENT FISHING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • January/February 2013

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2013

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