The timber industry in pa, and that includes DCNR as they own a large 2.5 million acre forest, are attending the PGC meetings and asking the commissioners to cut the herd to extremely low densities. When ex-Gary started his mission deer densities in many areas were 29-31dpsm.

Ex-Gary set a DD of 12dpsm ave. for the state. Now that is a heck of a cut. But timber companies want even harder cuts, quoting Susan Stoudt of the Federal forest Service of the NE office, she had recomended less than 10dpsm. And DCNR has picked up on her extreme views and is reccomending less than 10dspm be used in many state forests. As you know Public forest which once held good numbers of deer.

Now if you think about it, if your area was at 30dpsm and we do follow the recomendations of timber companies hired biologists and foresters, you are going to get down to about 1/3 of what deer you were seeing before they started thier herd reductions. ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE UP 2/3's of the deer you used to see, just so that Pa timber companies can continue to take a nice profit and not be effected by regeneration problems? Some are, some are not.

Pa is also plagued by environmental extremists within the state agency that controls forestry practices in pa public forests (The largest CERTIFIED state forests in the nation). The Bureau of forestry under DCNR attained 'certification' in the mid 90's and the consultant hired to perform the certification Bryon Shissler of SCS (a third party consulting firm), wrote a specific clause in the certification that "pa must drastically reduce its deer herd in pa" or risk losing this certification. And thus lose its '$sustainable$ label which is $$$.

What is certification? It is a quality standard and 'chain of custody' regime which certifies that Pa's public forests are 'sustainable'. meaning they are harvested at a 80-100 year rotation and not overharvested. That new forests are grown in thier place as harvests take place.

The Bureau of forestry in pa has said sufficient regeneration does not occur in pa an thus, large reductions in the deer herd are neccesary so that the timber industry in general does not have to take steps to either spend money on fence, nor replant trees after harvesting.
In general timber companies would like to continue the practice of cut and run in pa as they have enjoyed since before the civil war. Taking out of pa the $$$$ timber to sell overseas at premium prices because it is CERTIFIED sustainable and ecologically sound. It allows large companies to sell at higher prices and not be sued and heckled by environmental groups.

Do a search in Yahoo on "sustainable forestry" and you too can read about the role of certification in Pa as well as other states.

Private companies such as Collins Pine (a california owned co.) are also privatly certified in pa. , and representatives of Kane timber/Collins Pine (Kenny Kane) lobby the PGC at the January meetings urging for more herd reductions. They report that if deer numbers are not reduced thier profits will not be as great over the next century...... []

Now since Kane Timber has been taking timber and selling it out of pa for over a 100 years I cannot be all that sympatheic to thier plight. I mean they have made a boatload of cash over the years.

So to summarize, a timber company harvesting a plot in a selective cut is no problem to me or my hunting. Forest that goes from pole stage or mature saw timber and is cut and reverts back to sapling stage is good for all wildlife. Proper silvicultural and harvest methods when properly employed do not bother me as a sportsman at all.....

But we are not so naive in Pa to think that ALL timber companies DO practice great methods in thier pursuit of maximizing profits from stumpage sales! There is making a fast buck, and then there is good forestry practices...... and we have both in pa.

BUT WHAT DOES AFFECT OUR HUNTING in pa is when the timber companies send thier lobbiests to the PGC meetings and to the legislature and to the Governors Sportmans Advisory Council and demands that the deer herd be cut from 20-30 dpsm to less than 10dpsm. And when the state agency that oversees state forestry practices, DCNR, uses DMAP to resduce the PUBCLIC state forests to less than 10 DPSM then we as sportsman do have a huge concern over what is being done.

Financial and political efforts through forest 'certification', and poor private forestry practices, are both factors that are limiting hunting opporunities in pa. Especially for those hunters who were camp leasees in state forests. Once an oportunity for family and traditions, many of these camps are now sitting empty as deer numbers are reduced and hunters can no longer hunt out of them. DCNR is saturating state forests with DMAP tags on top of regular doe tags for a double whammy.

Forests reverting back to sapling stage (the most beneficial for wildlife) as part of a balanced and diverse mix of sapling, pole and mature stage timber is a great thing for hunters in pa. Unfortunately we do not have that as we have in pa a preponderance of mature forests being groomed for $hardwood$ timber harvest. Mature and pole stage support fewer deer, than sapling.

So timber companies doing thier job, and harvesting timber, we do not mind if done properly and prudently.

What we mind is THEM SENDING THIER LOBBIESTS TO HARRISBURG to ask for more and more and more herd reductions which is meant to put big business profits ahead of our hunting.

And yes it is ok to say that companies that employ people are more important than someones recreation and camps and traditions and hunting, but as a hunter WE SURE DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT.