The following Wildlife Management June 2007 handout information was obtained at the PGC Board of Commissioners meeting, which was held on June 25, 2007. The section that pertains to Surveys & Statistical Support and Furbearers in the handout is mentioned for your information.
SURVEYS & STATISTICAL SUPPORT
The third and final mailing for the game take and furtaker surveys was sent on June 18. There were about 18,400 game take surveys and 3,900 furtaker surveys sent this year.
FURBEARERS
A draft fisher management plan is now being reviewed within the Bureau of Wildlife Management. The plan provides a comprehensive and current summary of fisher biology, historic and current status, population recovery, economic significance, public interest, and regional population and harvest management approaches. The feasibility of implementing a fisher harvest season is addressed using a conceptual fisher management model and a wildlife management unit-based decision matrix. The decision matrix is designed to provide guidance for harvest management decisions such as timing, areas, and methodologies associated with a fisher harvest season.
All of the tools that we use to monitor Pennsylvania's bobcat population indicate increased bobcat abundance and continued geographic expansion outside of the established harvest area. The addition of wildlife management unit 2A during the 2007-2008 season will increase the available harvest area by 10% and will better distribute harvest pressure in southwestern PA. Based on bobcat population data, habitat suitability analyses, and bobcat hunter/trapper success rates, the statewide bobcat harvest objective has been increased to 340 bobcats and the 2007-2008 permit allocation increased to 1,010 bobcat permits.
A postal questionnaire was sent in April to 2,369 certified cable restraint users to assess use, efficiency, selectivity, and capture related injuries or mortalities. The survey contained 8 questions and an area for the trapper to provide input on cable restraint training and use in PA. The majority of these surveys have been received and data entry and analyses will be completed in July. A summary report will be prepared and distributed.
The annual WCO furbearer questionnaire was prepared and distributed in June. This survey quantifies furbearer related reports and incidents reported to officers during the previous year. The survey also summarizes WCO perceptions of relative furbearer abundance and regional trends in furbearer populations.
