LOCAL WILD TURKEY INFORMATION ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE

Interested in learning more about what's going on with wild turkey populations in your county? Please consider visiting the Pennsylvania Game Commission's "Field Officer Game and Furbearer Forecasts" found on the agency's website - www.pgc.state.pa.us. Developed to share field officer perspectives and observations on game and furbearer trends in their respective districts and to help hunters and trappers get closer to the action afield, the new addition to the website has been warmly received by many hunters and trappers.

"Our field officers spend a tremendous amount of time afield, often in the areas hunters and trappers are most interested in learning more about," said Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. "Their observations have value to hunters and trappers so we decided to set up a cyber-clearinghouse where anyone who enjoys hunting and trapping in Pennsylvania - resident or nonresident - can access from their home or office game and furbearer forecasts from every county of the state. The localized forecasts have been warmly received."

If you're interested in checking out the wild turkey forecasts from field officers, go to the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), then click on the box titled "Field Officer Game Forecasts," located directly below "The Outdoors Shop" space in the center of the homepage.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat.  The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs. 

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget.  The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

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