Pennsylvania’s lawmakers sacrifice stream buffers

By Katy Dunlap

As we have seen over the past year, one of the biggest threats to Pennsylvania’s native and wild trout populations comes from the halls of the Capitol in Harrisburg.  In its latest attempt to weaken protections for trout streams, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill that removes the regulatory requirement to maintain or create 150 feet of riparian buffer along high quality and exceptional value streams.

Since House Bill 1565 was introduced in 2013, TU members have been watching this bill closely.  It sat idle until this fall where after considerable debate, the bill passed the House in late September by a 119-79 vote.

When the bill made its way to the Senate, TU members, and other anglers and hunters turned out in droves to fight against the bill.  They spent countless hours writing letters to legislators, setting up meetings to educate legislators about the importance of buffers, and sending letters to the editors of local papers.  TU’s grassroots mobilization around this bill was tremendous. And our efforts made a difference.  HB1565 was amended to reflect some, but not all, of TU’s concerns.  Ultimately, we lost the bill in the Senate by a mere three votes.  Our work is far from done.  New regulations will likely be developed to implement this law, and anglers will need to weigh in once again.

If there was ever a time when Pennsylvania’s sportsmen and women needed to come together and use their voice, it is now.  As we look to a new legislative session in 2015, we can expect that protections for Pennsylvania’s fish and wildlife, and the agencies charged with managing these resources, will continue to come under attack.  Contact me at kdunlap@tu.org  if you have questions about how you can get involved. 

And thank you to all the TU members and other sportsmen and women who took action to protect Pennsyvlania's native and wild trout streams.

Katy Dunlap is the director of TU's Marcellus Shale campaign. 

 

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