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For over a century, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has done whatever it could to protect and conserve the wildlife of the state while also providing its hunting and trapping communities regulated access to its game lands. As it stands, it currently manages over 1.5 million acres of game land.
In April of 2023, they made strides to add multiple pieces of property in Plunkett Creeks Township, acquiring 102 acres of land from the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy -- off Cabbage Hollow Road -- for $456,633.55 and 53 acres from Thomas and Beth Stubler -- off Mock Run Road -- for $213,000. The purchases have each been finalized, getting approved in July and September respectively.
The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy had reached out to the Game Commission initially, intending to sell the land at an auction held at the end of April. At the same auction, they were approached by the Stublers.
"We couldn't react quickly enough to be part of the auction process so (the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy) stepped in to help," said Director of Wildlife Habitat Management David Gustafson when discussing the transaction. "It was actually at that auction that we met the Stubler folks. I wouldn't say that it's totally uncommon that those kinds of serendipitous connections occur."
For the Game Commission, it isn't uncommon for purchases of that nature to take months and months to finalize. In this case, however, each party was accommodating, allowing the process to run smoothly.
"Almost every purchase has its own nuance," said Gustafson. "Thank goodness we have good partners that are keeping eyes out for us and helping us out. A big thanks to the North Central Pennsylvania Conservancy for being a great partner and helping identify these properties and alerting us to their availability."
The intention behind these purchases was to provide additional access for parts of the game lands that they previously didn't have great access to, a consistent factor the Game Commission considers when acquiring land.
"We really try to strategize and look at places within the game lands where we don't have good accessibility from public growth to get people to use the property," said Gustafson when discussing the acquisition's benefits to the hunting and trapping communities. "That's probably going to be the No. 1 benefit for both these pieces."
Another benefit is conservation of the respective lands.
"I would say the secondary benefit is that it helps us protect the integrity of that wild character of the game," said Gustafson. "If these properties were acquired by another entity that then carves it up into five-acre lots and puts a bunch of hunting camps on it, then all of the sudden, you've got that right along the boundary of the game lines."
"Any time we're able to gain that accessibility and protect the wild character and integrity of that landscape, those are our big goals there," he added.
Additionally, the conservation of the properties should help to keep the watersheds - areas of land that allow streams and rainfall to reach a common outlet – within the area in good condition.
"We're keeping those lands in a natural condition, so they're not going to be developed," said Gustafson. "You're not going to have erosion and sedimentation problems and things like that, so there's always those watershed benefits of keeping forest properties as intact forests."
As 2024 shapes out, the goal of the Pennsylvania Game Commission remains the same as it looks to continue expanding accessibility to and conservation of the surrounding game lands.
"We have a slate of acquisitions for different properties. We've got about 12 different projects going on where we're bringing in another 850-plus acres to the game land system, everywhere from Crawford County in the Northwest to Indiana County, McKean, Blair, Lancaster, even Bucks County," said Gustafson on plans for 2024.
"We're continuing our efforts to try to conserve and protect those meaningful properties at whatever skill and opportunity we can find."