Wear It Pa Banner

HARRISBURG, Pa. (January 25) — The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is recruiting the 22nd class of Waterways Conservation Officer (WCO) Trainees at its H.R. Stackhouse School of Fishery Conservation and Watercraft Safety.

The State Civil Service Commission (SCSC) will begin accepting applications January 30 until February 19, 2019.

The class of up to 20 trainees is expected to report for training in the summer of 2019 and graduate in the summer of 2020. The most recent previous academy was held in 2015-2016.

Trainees will undergo an extensive 52-week training program encompassing all aspects of conservation law enforcement. Following civil service testing and selection, trainees will first complete a 22-week Municipal Police Officers Basic Training conducted by Pennsylvania State Police at its Northwest Training Center in Meadville, Crawford County. An additional 30 weeks of training is conducted at the Stackhouse school located in Bellefonte, Centre County and includes field training alongside seasoned WCOs. Trainees will assist with investigations, patrol regions, participate in public outreach events and stock waterways.

Two juveniles also are charged in a sweeping probe of deer poaching.

DALLAS – Nicholas A. Rosencrance, 19, of Scott Township, faces multiple game law charges resulting from a deer-killing spree that occurred in late January 2018, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission officials.
Charges against Rosencrance today were filed at the office of Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler, Chinchilla.
A disturbing video posted on Facebook, showing a male juvenile kicking and stabbing a paralyzed white-tailed deer, was provided to the Game Commission in October. Lackawanna County State Game Warden Kevin Moran and other game wardens conducted multiple suspect interviews and collected forensic evidence that led to charges against Rosencrance and two juveniles.
The Game Commission alleges Rosencrance participated in killing or shooting at four deer in North Abington and Scott townships in January 2018 and that he provided the rifle, vehicle and spotlight. Game wardens executed a search warrant at his residence in Scott Township on Nov. 9 and confiscated a rifle, deer parts, drug paraphernalia and electronic evidence.

While it might be winter, landowners can begin making plans to help wildlife this spring – and beyond – by planting tree and shrub seedlings offered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery.
The 2019 seedling order form is available online, and sales are set to begin Jan. 7 at 7 a.m.
The Howard Nursery grows tree and shrub seedlings for state game lands, participating Hunter Access cooperators, the Seedlings for Schools program and the Game Commission’s conservation partners. Any remaining surplus is available to Pennsylvania residents for purchase for wildlife food and cover, watershed protection, soil-erosion control, and for reclamation of disturbed areas, such as surface mine sites and utility rights-of-way.

DALLAS – Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that a Pike County man has been successfully prosecuted for the illegal taking or possession of 11 antlered deer over a several-year period.
James A. Twaite, 72, of Rowland, was found guilty of 11 summary counts of the unlawful taking or possession of game or wildlife, one count of hunting in an area where bait was used as an enticement, and one count of failure to tag big-game kills.
The charges were filed by State Game Warden Kevin Moran at the office of Magisterial District Judge Alan Cooper, Shohola. During a hearing held on Dec. 13, Twaite was found guilty of all charges. Fines and court costs were assessed at just under $10,000 and Twaite faces the loss of Pennsylvania hunting license privileges for 13 years.
The Game Commission received information that Twaite posted a photograph of a recently killed protected antlered deer on his Facebook page during the 2018 archery deer season. An investigation conducted by Moran and Game Warden Cadet Patrick Sowers determined that the protected deer also was killed in a baited area and was not tagged.

Two York County men have been charged in the felony assault of a State Game Warden in Norwegian Township, Schuylkill County.
Wade Michael Winemiller, 57, of Wrightsville, and Thomas E. Kelly Jr., 57, of Glen Rock, have been charged in the assault of State Deputy Game Warden David P. Fidler.
The incident occurred Dec. 1 when Fidler was investigating a complaint of deer possibly being shot from ATVs on Peach Mountain within a Hunter Access Program property that is patrolled by Game Commission officers.

Pennsylvania’s coming firearms deer season looks as promising as ever to the hundreds of thousands of hunters awaiting its start on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Deer hunters have seen the statewide buck harvest increase over each of the past three years, and more than a million whitetails have been taken by hunters over the same period. Many are wondering, “Can it get any better?”
Unseasonably warm weather, later leaf-drop and rain made it more challenging to pattern deer movements and take whitetails throughout the statewide six-week archery season, which concluded Nov. 12. Now the Commonwealth’s “orange-clad army” awaits its next opportunity to hunt deer in the statewide firearms season.
Pennsylvania’s firearms season draws the biggest crowd and consequently has been the state’s principal deer-management tool for more than a century. In many rural areas, the opener is equivalent to a holiday, and some schools still close their doors to allow their students – and teachers – to hunt.

DALLAS – Two wolf hybrids were seized in mid-October by the Pennsylvania Game Commission after the animals in May attacked a two-year-old child at the Wilkes-Barre Dog Park.
David Cannon Jr., 54, of Plains, faces two counts of unlawful acts related to exotic wildlife possession permits and one count of failure to safeguard the public from attack by exotic wildlife. Charges were filed by State Game Warden Phil White at the office of Magisterial District Judge Joseph D. Spagnuolo Jr., Plains, and carry a maximum total penalty of $1,500.
The two wolf hybrids – a male and a female – were seized during a search warrant executed on Oct. 18 at Cannon’s residence. Wolf hybrids are considered exotic wildlife under the PA Game and Wildlife Code.

  1. For Hunters New Game Commission App Has It All
  2. Erie County Man Faces Felony Charges For Unlawful Deer
  3. Pennsylvania Hunters Ready To Talk Turkey
  4. Erie County Man Charged With Killing Bald Eagle
  5. Pennsylvania: Hunt Safely, Wear A Harness
  6. Leashed Tracking Dogs Allowed To Recover Big Game
Joomla SEF URLs by Artio
Fish Kill Pollution Banner