In what will prove to have national significance in the deer management arena the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania (USP) has announced their intent to sue the PA Game Commission for their current deer management policies.  This effort is nearly one year in the making and was not decided upon without intense internal debate.  Civil rights attorney Don Bailey of Harrisburg is handling the case.  Mr. Bailey is the former Auditor General of PA under the Casey Administration.  He specializes in suing government on behalf of its citizens.

            This will be an “injunctive relief” suit similar to the legal maneuver of environmentalists who wish to halt a timber cut.  In the most basic terms the complaint will attempt to stop the deer eradication program and force the PGC to prove it is necessary.  Furthermore, Attorney Bailey is challenging the PGC for violating Title 34 (the Game Law) on behalf of the forestry industry.  Obviously, the PGC’s first and foremost obligation is to fulfill their legislatively mandated mission, not cater to commercial forestry.  The PGC’s deer model calculations, preseason herd estimate, harvest modeling methodology, post season herd estimate and the like will all be sought within this case.  This critical information has been withheld by the PGC even after repeated “Right to Know” requests by the USP.

            The decision to move forward with the lawsuit was predicated on the most recent words of our PGC Commissioners, correspondence with and by Executive Director Vern Ross, DCNR internal documents and the continuous “kill the deer” rhetoric of the environmental and forest community.  Just days ago the Audubon released a 368-page document once again condemning our deer as demons of the environment.  Additionally, environmentalists within and associated with DCNR have continued their call for agency merger. 

Dr. Gary Alt was again in the newspapers proclaiming that deer management will never be handled properly unless the PGC receives outside funding.  He claims the PGC’s problems stem from being solely financed by our sporting community.  I suppose Gary would like to see Audubon, the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club as well as the public finance the PGC.  In that scenario, environmentalists would be entitled to become PGC Commissioners.

            At this precise moment only a Letter of Intent to Sue has been declared.  Go to the USP website at www.unifiedsportsmenpa.org and review the legal document.  All those unhappy with the current PGC policies are invited to join this suit.  Yes, you can attach your name to this suit as an individual.  You can join online or print off a sign-on sheet for all of your friends to become involved.  I suspect the PGC attorneys will try to have the actual suit dismissed for reasons of standing.  Thousands of supportive signatures will resolve any question of standing in the judge’s mind.  Support by our sporting community will insure the formal complaint will be filed rather quickly, not at some time in the future.

            Interestingly, part of the strategy of this suit is to bolster the independence of the PGC.  DCNR has been relentless in its pursuit to continue the deer slaughter.  Hopefully, DCNR’s additional demands to kill more deer will be met by a unique PGC response.  “We can not comply with your demands.  We have been sued.  There is a court ordered injunction against eradicating our deer herd.”  Frankly, the suit is a stroke of genius.  I encourage all sportsmen to attend the PGC’s January 23 meeting and express their views.  The future of PA deer hunting literally hangs by a thread.   

It is true that we have forest regeneration problems in PA.  It is equally true that we have known of these problems for 50 years. It is further true that every state east of the Mississippi is experiencing similar problems.  What makes PA unique is that we are the only state attempting to eradicate its deer herd and its $5 billion hunting industry to resolve that problem. 

Actually, deer are merely the tool being used to steal our 1.5 million acres of State Game Lands away from us, merge our agencies and put anti-hunting environmentalists in control of our resource management.

After watching this debate and the vile politics for 10 years the decision by the Unified Sportsmen of PA to turn to the courts is appropriate, overdue and extremely courageous.  Hunters have been permitted zero input in this entire debacle and the matter is now out of our control. 

Unfortunately, in these days of special interest agendas, arrogant and infiltrated bureaucracies and unresponsive government, lawsuits have become the necessary alternative to restore sanity, truth and the will of the people.