PF&BC Cannot Do Their Job
Because of Politics

TO: The Centre Daily Times
        Letters to the Editor
        March 17, 1999

I was very upset after reading your March 11, 1999, article about industry lobbyists' latest obstruction of our much-needed fish protections in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been trying for almost a year now to do their job and list several species of fish as endangered, to enable them more protection. However, lobbyists for the coal and road- building industries, and their allies in the Legislature like coal contractor and state Senator Ed Helfrick (R- Mount Carmel), have effectively scuttled the process so far, causing the Commission to issue an unprecedented 5th extension of its comment period on the listing. Comments can be emailed to <regulations@fish.state.pa.us> or snail-mailed to: Peter Colangelo, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000, by March 31, 1999.

Almost a year ago now, the Fish and Boat Commission proposed to amend 58 PA Code Ch. 75 to update, modify and improve Commission regulations by adding 15 species to the list that already has 46 aquatic species on it. Species that would receive additional protections under the proposal include the Atlantic sturgeon, spotted gar, banded sunfish, hickory shad, gravel chub, and Iowa darter, among others. Pennsylvania currently lists 9 fish and two freshwater mussel species as endangered, 9 fish species as threatened, and 28 fish species as candidate.

The new list was developed using the most advanced technology available and was reviewed by scientists specializing in Pennsylvania fishes including notable Penn State ichthyologists and the chairman of the American Fisheries Society. The proposed list represents approximately 40% of our native fishes. Protections for Pennsylvania's rare fish species are needed as a vital safeguard for our Commonwealth's fisheries and clean water.

Endangered species should be protected for their own intrinsic worth, as part of God's creation, and also for the survival of humans. Threats to the Pennsylvania's fish species include acid mine drainage, chlorine from sewage-treatment plants, and the introduction of non- native species. When most of the fish species in a particular river are listed as threatened or endangered, that river is not going to be healthy for humans either. It is a sign that the 83,000 miles of Pennsylvania's waterways have a long way to go before they are fishable and swimmable again.

I strongly urge the so-called "leaders" of the PA Fish and Boat Commission in Harrisburg, like the Executive Director Pete Colangelo and his consistently-cowardly sidekick Assistant Director Dennis Guist to proceed immediately with its proposed listings, and for once in their lives stand up for the resources in their trust, and not be intimidated by a few lobbyists for the resource depleting industries in this state. I also urge the members of House and Senate Game and Fisheries Committees like state Sen. Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) to stop needlessly second-guessing our state's top fisheries experts and instead support the listing proposal and become stewards of all wildlife in Pennsylvania.

Daphne D. Minner, Ph.D.
State College, PA

(Please refere to the following RPF web pages for additional articles on this subject).

http://www.rayproffitt.org/pu/pu020599.htm  

http://www.rayproffitt.org/pu/pu102298.htm  

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