Help Protect PA’s Wild Trout Streams

D

Duff

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Just received this .........

The Pennsylvania Legislature is proposing to severely gut the state’s Endangered Species Act and other protections that help protect wild trout and other sensitive PA species that are part of Pennsylvania’s natural heritage. Delaware Riverkeeper Network urges you to contact the Legislative Chairs and your state legislators now to stop this bad legislation and attend the joint legislative hearing on Monday in Pottsville if you can.

There are many things wrong with these Bills but five things to point out now:

The PA Fish and Boat Commission, PA Game Commission, and Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources would be prohibited from designating a species as Threatened &Endangered unless the species was FEDERALLY designated. Plus the law would put political pressure over the science by requiring any action or listing by the agency to first be submitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission for approval.

The proposed legislation would greatly weaken PA’s Wild Trout stream designation – by removing the ability for a stream to be given Wild Trout stream protection provisionally in advance of publication in the PA Bulletin. This contradicts how DEP applies Exceptional Value existing use designation to Wild Trout streams in advance of Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approval and would allow for degradation of our important and rare wild trout streams as PADEP works through the lengthy and often multi-year long stream upgrade process.

Any new designation of a Pennsylvania endangered species could only happen if that species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its entire federal range. So a species could be on the verge of extinction in PA and it would not qualify as endangered in Pennsylvania and receive necessary special protections under this new proposed law.

The legislation would shift the burden onto the taxpayers and state agencies to determine the presence of threatened and endangered species instead of keeping that burden on the developers and polluters who are applying for permits.

Pennsylvania species on the existing state’s listing would be AUTOMATICALLY DELISTED from the state’s “centralized database “ after two years unless they are re-designated by the agency.

You can find out contact information for your PA state legislators here:

http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/river-action/ongoing-issue-detail.aspx?Id=61
 
This is a bit late. It states the hearing is Monday 8/26.
 
It's never too late. This is the first salvo and because it's an off year this year, there is a window for legislators to pass crap and pass it off as being good for the PA Economy.
Well they haven't helped the PA economy in years there is no chance for them to help the economy now, they never do.
Back to the purpose ofthis legislation, the Legislature want to have more control over agencies of the PA Government, the Environmental review is a new wrinkle to this effort, their purpose is to never allow another species to be listed as endangered or threatened.
The utimate goal is to merge the agencies.
 
Where's PA TU on this. I haven't received anything from them.
 
You can view here. Some parts will get your blood boiling, and it is obvious that some of these guys have a vendetta our for the PFBC/PGC, which imo is the real reason for the bill.

Watch live streaming video from pahousegop at livestream.com
 
Having all decisions by the PGC or PFBC fall under IIRC would be a bad thing for all sportsmen in this state. This is all about gas drilling at any cost and finding a way to dip into any monies those agencies happen to obtain from it. I don't think they'll be happy until every square inch in this state that can be drilled is drilled.

Man will never learn from the mistakes of the past it seems. It's all about greed.


 
I contacted my state representative and senator. With big government I doubt it helps. At the least it makes me feel like I've done more than just wait and see what happens.
 
Call your legislators and voice your opposition. This bill will have consequences for our kids and grand kids to deal with. After watching the testimony, it kind of makes me sick thinking that the bill's sponsors would be making decisions on trout stream designations, etc. But hey, we'll make a buck and that will make it all good.
 
Keep in mind this is a state legislature that refuses to pass a severance tax on the gas that gas companies take out of the ground, but they continue to look at ways to increase taxes on the Citizens of the Commonwealth. They are gutless. If they weren't there would be a severance tax, and he state budget would be in surplus or at least balanced. But there is nothing in it for the legislature if they balance the budget and institute a severance tax.
There is nothing in it for the current legislature if we vote them out. My guess is that it's being pushed by representatives on the Fish and Game Committee who lead the committee.
 
I'm sorry to say but both the Sierra Club and TU speakers should have been more prepared or sent in their Communications person (if that even exists). As a new TU member, I'd hope we could have someone more vocal & confident in dealing with legislature or anyone for that matter, as this person couldn't coherently or successfully answer any of the questions.

I hope I don't make anyone mad by stating this opinion.
 
At the state and local level we're basically all volunteers and we do our best. Not sure who testified or how much notice they had to prepare but I can tell you the folks on state council wear many hats for PATU in addition to balancing jobs and family. They are also looking for fresh, young blood to lend a hand. Especially on these issues.
 
I did post about this at least a month or two ago. Part of the problem, unfortunately, is that forums are a for profit entity, and like to quarantine posts that are controversial out of the main discussion area. On fishing and hunting forums that is a bad idea. We are talking about clicking mice and placing a few phone calls here, a few eyeballs get momentum.

The hunting pa site, which has many more members than this one, is only talking about this now, because a long time member has posted it in the main forum. They make sure to keep most all gas related topics in the gas section which gets very little traffic, obviously, as compared to the main forum.



 
BrookieChaser wrote:
I contacted my state representative and senator. With big government I doubt it helps. At the least it makes me feel like I've done more than just wait and see what happens.

Regardless of where you stand on any issue, calling/writing/emailing them does work.
 
PA Could Lose $27M If Endangered Species Bills Become Law

Of course the key word is 'could,' but still, I fail to see how changing the system that is currently in place benefits the state as a whole.

Also, did anyone see the part of the hearing where they are questioning whether some of the language in the bill was omitted. What a joke show.

Bottom line, these guys just can't help themselves from getting down on their knees taking shots of dollar bills to the back of throat.
 
The impetus behind the legislation appears to be the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance (not sure exactly; it's the coal industry rape the land lobbying group). They're upset that 96 streams mostly in western PA were designated were re-classified as high quality trout streams by the PFBC thus making it more difficult for the coal industry to rape the land in and around those streams.

I grew up in central PA in Clearfield and Centre Counties in the 50s and early 60s prior to the Surface Mine Reclamation Act of 1977. If you weren't there then or have never seen pictures, there were any number of places where, from horizon to horizon, the effects of strip mining look like Mars or the moon. Much of that has been repaired, to a degree, but many of the streams still run red with acid mine drainage. King Coal could and did do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted. No doubt they'd like to be able to do so again. Without a doubt, this legislation is a step in that direction.

Anther item in the legislation which is truly frightening is requiring legislative oversight of the science employed by the Game Commission and PFBC in making the decisions those bodies make. The state's Republican legislators fall in line quite nicely behind the science deniers nationwide. With passage, we could no doubt expect sound scientific decision making to fall quickly by the wayside.

This legislation is garbage, pure and simple.
 
I agree mcneidhm.

Actually I just got an email from my state rep who is a republican and he said that as of right now with the House returning to session on Sept 23, the bill is currently not on the agenda for consideration. Nor does it look to be up for consideration within the Committee anytime soon. He won't support it. SE PA.
 
mcneishm wrote:
The impetus behind the legislation appears to be the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance (not sure exactly; it's the coal industry rape the land lobbying group). They're upset that 96 streams mostly in western PA were designated were re-classified as high quality trout streams by the PFBC thus making it more difficult for the coal industry to rape the land in and around those streams.

I grew up in central PA in Clearfield and Centre Counties in the 50s and early 60s prior to the Surface Mine Reclamation Act of 1977. If you weren't there then or have never seen pictures, there were any number of places where, from horizon to horizon, the effects of strip mining look like Mars or the moon. Much of that has been repaired, to a degree, but many of the streams still run red with acid mine drainage. King Coal could and did do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted. No doubt they'd like to be able to do so again. Without a doubt, this legislation is a step in that direction.

Anther item in the legislation which is truly frightening is requiring legislative oversight of the science employed by the Game Commission and PFBC in making the decisions those bodies make. The state's Republican legislators fall in line quite nicely behind the science deniers nationwide. With passage, we could no doubt expect sound scientific decision making to fall quickly by the wayside.

This legislation is garbage, pure and simple.
There may be some truth to Coal Companies being behind some of this. But so are the gas companies.
 
just another example of GREED! And they wonder why we hate them so.
 
The gas company owners already have more sites leased than they can drill for the next 20 years. But no, they want it all. Because otherwise, it will inconvenience them and increase their expenses a little.

It's sociopathy, really.
 
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