THE EXPRESS (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania) 13 January 06 County officially opposes proposed changes to snake hunts (Scott Johnson)
Lock Haven: Saying they would hurt the county’s tourism and fund-raising efforts by the Kettle Creek Hose Co., the Clinton County commissioners have officially opposed proposed new snake-hunting regulations.
However, a spokesman for the state Fish and Boat Commission said the regulations are being proposed to help protect a species that is close to being on the state’s endangered list.
At their meeting Thursday morning, the county commissioners unanimously approved a resolution opposing plans from the Fish and Boat Commission that would make snake-hunting permits more expensive, increase the minimum size of snakes being caught and could limit the amount of snake hunts in a specific region.
The changes would likely not take effect until next year, according to Dan Tredinnick, press secretary for the Fish and Boat Commission
The county’s resolution states the proposed changes “run contrary to the mission statement of the Clinton County commissioners and the Clinton County Tourist Promotion Agency.”
It states the annual Cross Fork Snake Hunt draws thousands of people to Clinton and Potter counties, is the life-blood of the Kettle Creek Hose Co. and is vital not only to tourism in the two counties, but also to the fire protection and safety of both permanent and seasonal residents of the Cross Fork area.
Specific proposals the county and the Kettle Creek Hose Co. are opposed to:
- Raising permit fees for individual hunters from $5 to $50 for residents and $100 for non-residents
- Increasing the permit to sponsor the events from $25 to $100
- Requiring the caught snakes be a minimum of 42 inches long
- Limiting the hunt permits to a particular vicinity or time period at the will of the executive director of the Fish and Boat Commission
- Prohibiting the importing of timber rattlers or the sub-species of the timber rattler, including western diamondback rattlesnakes.
The commissioners, through the passed resolution, say the increase in hunter permit fees is “dramatic,” and recommends a more reasonable fee increase, although no proposed fees were specified.
The Game and Fish Commission proposed the fee increase due to the cost of processing snake hunting permits.
The commissioners, however, point to the processing of over 700,000 hunting licenses in 2004, which deal with “multiple species, hundreds of issuing agents and multiple seasons throughout the year,” the resolution states.
Meanwhile, the commission only processed 1,181 snake-hunting permits in 2004, with that number likely to decrease with the proposed rate increases.
“We believe the proposed fee increase to be excessive and not clearly justified,” the county’s resolution states.
Regarding the proposal to possibly limit the amount of snake hunts in a specific region, the commissioners note there are only eight weekends of legal open season on timber rattlesnakes in 2006, with two other hunts in the region — Sinnemahoning and Morris.
On the proposal to prohibit the importing timber rattlesnakes and their sub-species, the county’s resolution states, “the organizers of the event ensure that all safety precautions are followed and the reptiles remain unharmed,” and western diamondback rattlesnakes are imported for the event.
Finally, concerning the minimum length proposal, the Kettle Creek Fire Co.’s Web site states most of the snakes at its hunts are between 38 and 39 inches and the proposal could severely limit the amount of snakes it can obtain for hunts.
“The sacking contest at the Cross Fork Snake Hunt is the centerpiece of fund-raising efforts at the event and draws thousands of spectators,” the resolution concludes. “The Clinton County commissioners and the Clinton County Tourist Promotion Agency oppose any regulation that would negatively impact the sacking contest.”
The Clinton County commissioners said a similar resolution was passed by their colleagues in Potter County, with Tioga and Cameron County commissioners likely to follow suit.
“(The proposed changes) will have a negative impact on tourism,” said Commissioner Tom Bossert. “Our purpose, we feel, is to encourage tourism as much as we can.”
Commissioner Bud Yost said he believes the Kettle Creek Fire Co. would be “extremely” impacted by the proposed changes, and would leave that group with limited fund-raising opportunities.
Yost said at last week’s meeting he would discuss the proposed changes with State Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven, and Sen. John Wozniak, D-Johnstown, minority members of the House and Senate Game and Fisheries committees, respectively.
Attempts to reach Hanna and Wozniak were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.
Tredinnick said the proposed regulations are part of a broad package of bills designed to protect the state’s reptiles and amphibians.
He said the recommendation to limit the size of timber rattlesnakes to 42 inches is designed to protect the species’ females, which typically are smaller than the males.
“The timber rattlesnake is a ‘candidate species,’” Tredinnick said. “It’s not on the endangered and threatened list, but because of its declining population, we don’t want it to be on the endangered list.”
The 90-day public comment period on the issue runs until this Sunday.
Tredinnick said the Fish and Boat Commission usually dedicates 30 days for public comments, but tripled the time because of the anticipated large amounts of comments on the issue.
“We’ve had several hundred comments... e-mails or letters,” he said. “We’re not really surprised. There’s not much interest on a statewide basis, but those folks who are interested are a very active group. The interest didn’t surprise us at all. We fully anticipated that to be the case.”
The commission will hold meetings on the issue in Harrisburg on Jan. 23 and 24. The meetings are open to the public.
Tredinnick said the commission may hear additional proposals concerning sacking contests held during snake hunts. Those proposals would also require an additional public comment period of at least 30 days.
County officially opposes proposed changes to snake hunts