Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013 - 18

Private Landowner Assistance Program was designed to do just that. The
agency’s six regional wildlife diversity
biologists provide habitat planning
services — at no charge — to landowners. These biologists have developed
more than 1,000 plans to improve
forest, grassland, scrubland, wetland
and agricultural habitat for species of
greatest conservation need since the
program began in 2004.
Effective conservation planning on
both private and public lands requires
a thorough knowledge of species distribution and abundance. Thanks in large
part to State Wildlife Grants funding,
we now have a better understanding of
Pennsylvania’s nesting bird populations
than ever before, with the publication of the Second Atlas of Breeding
Birds in Pennsylvania in 2012. Nearly
2,000 volunteers surveyed nesting birds
across the state between 2004 and 2009
as a follow-up to the first atlas completed in the early ’90s. The ability to
look at changes in habitat conditions
and bird populations over the past 20
years will help inform conservation and
management decisions for the next decade, particularly as we revise the State
Wildlife Action Plan by 2015.
The Game Commission and the Fish
and Boat Commission are contributing
to conservation actions carried out
beyond Pennsylvania’s borders as well.
Pennsylvania, along with 12 other
northeastern states and the District of
Columbia, pool a percentage of their
annual State Wildlife Grants funds
toward regional conservation projects.
These funds have led to advances in
mapping northeastern wildlife habi-

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tat, investigating potential impacts of
climate change on species of greatest
conservation need, and enhancing our
understanding of white nose syndrome,
a disease killing populations of cavehibernating bats in Pennsylvania and
rapidly spreading in North America.
Together, the State Wildlife Action
Plan and the State Wildlife Grants
Program have accomplished much for
wildlife and wild places in their relatively brief existences. Species surveys,
habitat management, and land acquisition projects have improved the future
for Pennsylvania’s wildlife, the habitats
on which it depends — and ultimately,
our quality of life. However, the future
of these types of projects is uncertain.
Despite being the primary funding
source for the Game Commission’s
Wildlife Diversity Program and similar
programs nationwide, continued funding for State Wildlife Grants is not
guaranteed. The program is subject to
annual appropriations by Congress,
and funding has been cut by 33 percent
from 2010 levels. With budget battles
occurring with increasing regularity
in Washington, program funding is in
jeopardy of being reduced further or
cut altogether. You can take action for
all wildlife by telling your congressional representative that State Wildlife
Grants funding is an important annual
investment and makes sense. Future
generations will thank you for it.
Nate Zalik is the PGC’s State Wildlife
Grants Program Coordinator and Cathy
Haffner is the agency’s Wildlife Action
Plan Coordinator.

GAME NEWS
Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013
