The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently unveiled what it is calling its”Ring-Necked Pheasant Management Plan.” I salute them for it!

The stated goal of the plan is to “provide a quality ring-necked pheasant hunting experience in Pennsylvania.” There are six strategic goals outlined in the plan.

Goal No. 1 calls for restoring self-sustaining and huntable ring-necked pheasant populations in suitable habitat by establishing Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas (WPRAs.) These areas shall be at least 15,000 acres in size and contain suitable breeding and wintering habitats. Habitat improvements will be implemented on these lands to meet the habitat requirements. Once met, wild-trapped pheasants will be released to establish at least 10 hens per mile in the spring. WPRAs will be closed to game-farm pheasant stocking and hen hunting during the population establishment period.

Goal No. 2 seeks to provide pheasant hunting opportunities by annually producing at least 250,000 pheasants at the PGC game farms and maximizing their harvest by sportsmen. This will require upgrading the facilities at the game farms and revising stocking protocols to maximize harvest of game-farm pheasants on game lands and other lands under cooperative agreement with the PGC.

Informing and educating the public on the status of the pheasant management plan will be key to garnering support needed for habitat improvements (goal No. 3).

Goal No. 4 seeks to develop partnerships to restore wild pheasant populations in Pennsylvania. Cooperative agreements with Pheasants Forever, U.S.Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, will be required to meet the various habitat objectives. Integration of pheasant recovery efforts into existing federal farm bill and state conservation programs will be necessary.

Population monitoring and research to ensure the best management of the pheasant resource are stated in goal No. 5. Conducting surveys of hunters and landowners will be valuable in assessing interest and participation in the plan objective. Monitoring trends in pheasant populations, habitat, hunter numbers and harvests, statewide and on WPRAs will be essential.

Lastly, goal No. 6 seeks to provide sustainable funding and the resources necessary to implement the pheasant management plan. To offset the cost of pheasant propagation, the plan recommends establishing a pheasant hunting license that would be required of all pheasant hunters, exempting junior hunters. Implementation of the pheasant management plan will require a substantial expenditure of 2 million dollars annually for habitat improvements. Game funds, Growing Greener funds, and other state and federal revenues will be required.

Restoring wild pheasant populations will not be easy. We cannot go back to the millions of acres of nesting and brood rearing cover that were in place in the 60s and 70s. However, providing better hunting and more hunting opportunities for pheasants is possible. Only a large-scale habitat restoration efforts can restore wild pheasant populations. Implementation of the goals, objectives and strategies of this plan will require the commitment of considerable financial and personnel resources. It will require the support of the sportsmen and women of Pennsylvania. Most importantly, it will require working with farmers and private landowners, the USDA, Pheasants Forever and other conservation partners to restore farmland ecosystems.

I, like most hunters my age, remember the days when pheasants were as important as deer to Pennsylvania sportsmen. If this plan is implemented, and works, perhaps those days will return.

n E-mail comments to jdsteese@yahoo.com.