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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Edward G. Staback |
  
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Staback to amend poaching bill, increasing penalties
HARRISBURG, Sept. 9 – State Rep. Ed Staback, D-Lackawanna/Wayne, announced today that he will offer an amendment to his legislation (H.B. 2205) that would significantly increase penalties for poaching and other Game Law violations.
"I believe sportsmen agree that poaching, be it greedy over-harvesting, disturbing thrill kills or commercial black market sales, gives hunting a black eye," Staback said.
"After a productive hearing on the bill and receiving thoughtful input from concerned individuals and organizations, ideas to make the bill better were discussed and drafted throughout this summer," said Staback. "I took very seriously the advice I got from sportsmen and from advocacy groups and used their perspectives to improve my legislation."
Staback said the new draft of the bill will include several changes to the original text, but will not change the intent of the measure.
The new language centers on penalties for poaching, the taking of threatened and endangered animals and the unlawful marketing of animal parts. It will no longer include language about prosecutorial process for the collection of contraband and the forfeiture of personal property, to which some voiced objections.
While Staback's bill was being prepared, portions of the state Game Code that address judicial procedure and forfeiture of contraband were shown to be in need of a rewrite due to earlier court rulings that found them vague and ruled them void. Staback said it was thought that his bill could be a good vehicle to get those revisions accomplished. So originally, those provisions, some of which were controversial and dealt with personal property rights, were added.
Staback said he took a different view of these provisions after listening to complaints about the scope of the bill and about the technical language suggested by the Game Commission.
"There was a strong possibility that the confiscation language could keep the bill from winning broad-based support and, in doing so, defeat my goal of the increased poaching penalties," Staback said. "I decided to split the bill. A separate companion piece of legislation will now include the forfeiture of personal property and technical contraband provisions. I will strongly advocate that legislation, and it will get the serious attention it deserves."
House Bill 2205 still includes a series of reforms that would make historic changes to the Game Code and the way violators are charged. The bill would:
· Change the definition of poaching to specifically include unlawful taking of game during closed seasons and beyond established daily or season limits.
· Introduce the first felony charge into the Game Code.
· Increase penalties for illegal game kills from summaries to misdemeanors and felonies, substantially raising fines and adding possible incarceration.
· Address black marketeering of animal parts and commercial poaching with misdemeanors and felonies.
· Use jail time in sentencing.
· Increase second violations of illegal game kills and illegal trade of game to felonies.
· Increase the penalty for assaulting a Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony.
· Extend the time period during which someone can be prosecuted for a second violation of trespass while hunting and unlawful killing, selling and buying of game from two years to 10 years.
"House Bill 2205 is a complicated piece of legislation," Staback said. "When work started on the bill, I wanted to make sure that we treated violators of our state’s wildlife laws as tough, if not tougher, than other states do in their laws.
"Given the number of violations and the fact that out-of-staters come to Pennsylvania to conduct their illegal trade due to our light punishments, our poaching laws have shown they are not tough enough to act as a deterrent. With my bill and its increased fines, offenses and possible jail time, the penalties will now fit the crime."
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