Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012 - 20

provements and public access, and helps manage wildlife on more than 2.6 million acres of private cooperator lands; 2.5 million acres of State Forest land and State Park lands with DCNR; and 500,000 acres of Allegheny National Forest lands. P-R funds are used for much of this work, and all of these lands are open to public hunting. Beginning in 2001, the Game Commissioin began using P-R funds for hunter education and, in 2009, for hunter recruitment and retention, and in recent years has been receiving in excess of $1 million in P-R funds for these purposes. Currently, thanks in part to P-R, the Game Commission is using prescribed

fire to create and maintain early successional habitats. To take advantage of this technique, 200 PGC staff have received training and equipment to meet this task. Golden-winged warblers and American woodcock are just two of many species that stand to benefit from prescribed fire and other management techniques designed to create early successional habitats. While we’ve just begun using prescribed fire, we’re already hearing about many successful hunts and wildlife experiences on burned areas, thanks in no small part to what we’re doing with P-R funds. What waits around the corner?” Just watch and see. 

• From  1939  through  2010  P-R  provided  $6,411,069,221  in  grants  to  state  fish  and  wildlife agencies. Then and Now: • In 1937, Pennsylvania hunters harvested 39,347 antlered deer and there was no antlerless season. In 2011-12, hunters harvested 127,540 antlerled deer and 208,660  antlerless deer. • In 1937, hunters harvested 537 bears in Pennsylvania; in 2011-12, 4,350. • In 1937, hunters in Pennsylvania harvested 6,619 turkeys; in 2011, the preliminary  harvest was 59,974 (42,957 in the spring and 17,017 in the fall). • In 1937, 11 states had no open seasons for deer and three others had only local seasons. Virtually all other states had far more restrictive seasons than enjoyed today.  • 1937, the deer population in Illinois was estimated to be 3,000 animals, and the  hunting season was closed. In 2010, hunters in Illinois could potentially hunt deer  for 108 days. In 2008, hunters harvested more than 188,400 deer. • In 1937, Missouri’s hunters harvested 108 deer. In 2009, hunters took more than  295,000 deer. • From  1937  to  1965,  deer  hunting  was  not  allowed  in  Kansas.  Now,  more  than  100,000 are harvested each year. • In 1937, New Jersey offered six days of deer hunting. In 2009, more than 161 deer  hunting days were available. • During Ohio’s first turkey season, in 1966, hunters took 12 birds. In 2009, they took  20,710. • With  greater  wildlife  populations,  the  number  of  Americans  hunting  –  the  customer  base for businesses paying the tax – increased nearly 2½ times between 1937 and  1982. Even though the number of hunters has recently declined, there were still more  than twice as many hunters in 2010 as there were in 1937. • Some National Wildlife Restoration Accomplishments from 2004 – 2009 include: • Students Taught Hunter Education – 3 million • Shooting Ranges Operated or Constructed – 900 • Private Landowners Assisted – 173,000 • Acres acquired or leased – 4.9 million 20	 GAME	 NEWS

P-R Facts:
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012

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