One of Pennsylvania’s two wildlife management agencies will be under a microscope in 2018. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced Tuesday that his office will conduct the Game Commission’s first performance audit in nearly a decade.
“My team will conduct a thorough audit that I anticipate will be completed late this year,” Mr. DePasquale said in a statement. "Through my review, I will evaluate the commission to ensure its resources are being used to benefit the millions of Pennsylvanians who enjoy hunting, trapping and other outdoor recreational activities.”
The Game Commission operates on a budget of about $100 million, employs some 700 full-time staff, and issues about 900,000 hunting licenses annually. The last time the Legislature approved an increase in hunting license fees was in 1998.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announces that his office is launching an audit of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. (Video courtesy of the Pennsylvania Internet News Service):
The audit will cover July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017. For each of those years, Mr. DePasquale said his office will identify and analyze all sources of commission revenue and expenditures, and determine each fund’s year-end balance including money held in escrow or restricted accounts. The audit will also determine if expenditures, including the acquisition of property, have been in compliance with applicable laws. The Associated Press reported the audit will also delve into how the whitetail deer population is being managed, and efforts to preserve and expand ruffed grouse habitat.
Mr. DePasquale suggested the audit would answer questions raised about the number of motor vehicles in the Game Commission’s fleet. It is not known when research is expected to begin.
The audit was initiated at the request of state Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, and Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton. It was first mentioned in public in April 2017, during a hearing of the House Game and Fisheries Committee when legislators were considering a bill that would permit the Game Commission to set its own license and permit fees under legislative oversight. A parallel bill, Senate Bill 30, would grant the same privileges to the state Fish and Boat Commission. Both bills have been on hold since the Game Commission audit was announced.
A spokesman at Mr. Dermody’s Harrisburg office deferred calls about the audit to Mr. Hanna. In a statement, Mr. Hanna said that before a hunting license fee increase could be considered an audit needed to be performed to ensure the commission was properly managing its finances and the state’s deer population.
“The Game Commission is responsible for managing the commonwealth’s wildlife resources. I applaud Auditor General DePasquale for taking steps to ensure the commission’s financial resources are being used to benefit residents of Pennsylvania who enjoy hunting, trapping and other outdoor recreational activities,” Mr. Hanna said in the statement. “This audit was prompted by a bipartisan group of House members who have questioned the activities of the Game Commission for quite some time. I am a huge proponent of transparency and am happy to be a co-sponsor of House Bill 1483, which would return accountability of deer management back to sportsmen.”
An agency of the state’s executive branch, the Game Commission is charged with managing wild birds and mammals, developing wildlife habitats, and working with private landowners to provide access to hunters and trappers. It also enforces hunting and trapping laws and regulations, and owns nearly 1.5 million acres of state game lands in 65 counties.
The Legislature conducted an audit of the Game Commission’s deer management plan in 2008-09. Independent auditors with wildlife management experience recommended some changes in the plan including the size of management units, public relations practices and population count methods, but endorsed most of the management plan.
The Game Commission is almost entirely funded by hunters and trappers through license dollars.
Mr. DePasquale announced the Game Commission audit one week after launching the first-ever audits of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and Delaware River Basin Commission, interstate compacts charged with preserving water supply and quality, managing drought and flood condition, and preserving water-related recreational opportunities.
John Arway, executive director of the Fish and Boat Commission, said Tuesday the river basin commission audits should have no bearing on the status of Senate Bill 30, which would permit Fish and Boat to set its own license and permit fees. It operates on a $52 million budget.
Like the Game Commission, Fish and Boat is an agency of the executive branch funded almost entirely by fishing and boating license and permit fees, leases on natural resources and a federal excise tax on fishing and boating equipment and fuel. The Legislature last approved a fishing license fee increase in 2004.
John Hayes: 412-263-1991, jhayes@post-gazette.com.
First Published: February 20, 2018, 9:16 p.m.
