HUNTING SEASONS RESTORED IN ENTIRETY OF PIKE COUNTY
Three Monroe County townships remain closed to hunting and trapping due to ongoing manhunt.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has lifted within all of Pike County the temporary prohibition on hunting and trapping, but all seasons remain closed within three townships in Monroe County.
Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough today amended the executive order he issued Oct. 10.
It is the second time the order has been amended in consultation with Pennsylvania State Police, which have determined restrictions that previously prohibited hunting and trapping in all or parts of Blooming Grove, Porter, Greene and Lehman townships, all in Pike County, now can be lifted.
The order amended today also restores public access to all parts of State Game Lands 183, located in Blooming Grove Township, Pike County.
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Ellen Ferretti noted all DCNR lands in Pike County now are reopened to hunters and other recreational users.
And, with the amendment, hunters within portions of Pike County, who recently had to abide by special fluorescent-orange requirements, may now return to the statewide fluorescent-orange requirements as outlined on Pages 63 and 64 of the 2014-15 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest.
The amended order retains the temporary prohibition on hunting and trapping activity on all lands, public and private, within Price, Barrett and Paradise townships, Monroe County. Those townships all are in Wildlife Management Unit 3D.
Public access to the portions of State Game Lands 221 within those townships, as well as the portions of the Delaware State Forest within those townships, remains closed.
In the areas where hunting and trapping seasons have been closed, the seasons will remain closed until the executive order is lifted, which will be announced by the Game Commission in a statewide news release that will be posted on the agency’s website at the time it is issued.
Hough said the Game Commission will continue to work with state police to make further amendments to the order that are deemed appropriate.
Hough issued the initial executive order Oct. 1, after the Pennsylvania State Police advised that troopers who are part of the search for fugitive Eric Frein had uncovered explosive devices that apparently were left behind in wooded areas by the fugitive, and would pose an obvious danger to anyone who would encounter them.
The Pennsylvania Game and Wildlife Code authorizes the Game Commission to close any hunting or trapping season to assure the purposes of the code, including assuring the health and safety of the persons who hunt or trap.
Today’s decision to reopen the seasons in all areas previously closed in Pike County was made in consultation with Pennsylvania State Police.
Hough said the ongoing police investigation and search for Frein has provided no further indication it is unsafe for hunting activity to resume in the previously closed area that was reopened today. Still, he urged hunters in the area to remain cautious and to report any suspicious activity to police.
“Our hunters and trappers need to be aware that, while the active search area is some distance from the areas that now have been reopened, the search for fugitive Eric Frein still continues in the northeast, and any suspicious activity or findings should be reported immediately,” Hough said.
Frein is wanted in the Sept. 12 ambush-shooting death of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson II outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pike County. Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded in the attack. The search for Frein has continued since, with the active search area located in Monroe County.
Anyone who witnesses suspicious activity or discovers possible evidence related to Frein or this investigation is urged to call the Pennsylvania State Police TIP Line at 1-866-326-7256.
