Give Wildlife a Safe Zone in Allegheny County’s New Game Lands

Give Wildlife a Safe Zone in Allegheny County’s New Game Lands

Recent signers:
Russell Robinson and 19 others have signed recently.

The Issue

A rare win for public land just happened in Allegheny County. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, working with conservation groups and local donors, has opened 266 acres of forest, streams, and wildlife habitat in Indiana Township—now part of State Game Lands 203.

This land is already home to white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, red foxes, and even black bears. Songbirds migrate through the tree canopy. Deer Creek, which cuts through the parcel, shelters native amphibians and is stocked with trout. And yet, under current rules, this entire ecosystem is open to hunting, with no zones set aside where animals can safely raise their young or migrate in peace.

That’s why we’re calling on the Pennsylvania Game Commission and state leaders—including Rep. Anita Kulik and Rep. Mandy Steele—to designate wildlife refuge zones within this new public land. These zones would remain off-limits to hunting year-round, giving animals space to thrive while still allowing responsible hunting elsewhere on the property.

The land was preserved thanks to not just hunting license fees, but also the work of the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy, Allegheny Land Trust, and 140 local residents who helped fund the purchase. Hikers, birdwatchers, and families will also use this land, especially with the Rachel Carson Trail running right through it. That makes coexistence and safety—for both humans and animals—more important than ever.

Wildlife deserve more than a target zone. They deserve a chance to live, nest, and roam without fear across at least part of the land we worked so hard to save.

Sign if you agree: animals like deer, foxes, trout, and turkeys deserve a permanent safe zone in our public lands.

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Recent signers:
Russell Robinson and 19 others have signed recently.

The Issue

A rare win for public land just happened in Allegheny County. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, working with conservation groups and local donors, has opened 266 acres of forest, streams, and wildlife habitat in Indiana Township—now part of State Game Lands 203.

This land is already home to white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, red foxes, and even black bears. Songbirds migrate through the tree canopy. Deer Creek, which cuts through the parcel, shelters native amphibians and is stocked with trout. And yet, under current rules, this entire ecosystem is open to hunting, with no zones set aside where animals can safely raise their young or migrate in peace.

That’s why we’re calling on the Pennsylvania Game Commission and state leaders—including Rep. Anita Kulik and Rep. Mandy Steele—to designate wildlife refuge zones within this new public land. These zones would remain off-limits to hunting year-round, giving animals space to thrive while still allowing responsible hunting elsewhere on the property.

The land was preserved thanks to not just hunting license fees, but also the work of the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy, Allegheny Land Trust, and 140 local residents who helped fund the purchase. Hikers, birdwatchers, and families will also use this land, especially with the Rachel Carson Trail running right through it. That makes coexistence and safety—for both humans and animals—more important than ever.

Wildlife deserve more than a target zone. They deserve a chance to live, nest, and roam without fear across at least part of the land we worked so hard to save.

Sign if you agree: animals like deer, foxes, trout, and turkeys deserve a permanent safe zone in our public lands.

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The Decision Makers

Pennsylvania Game Commission And Board of Commissioners
Pennsylvania Game Commission And Board of Commissioners
Responded
“The establishment of State Game Lands originally was to establish “refuges” from overharvesting from unregulated hunting. In the early years of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there were not established laws like we have today that are based on science-based management to make sure our game (huntable) species are managed and conserved in a way that keeps their populations at sustainable levels (both high or low). For example, in some cases, deer overpopulation can become a problem for the other species around them if they remove the vegetation that other species depend on. On the other side, if wildlife populations are not high enough to sustain harvest from hunting, then seasons for hunting will be reduced and the Game Commission will focus on creating habitat for that species. Fast-forward to today, the agency of the Pennsylvania Game Commission is to “manage wildlife and their habitats while promoting hunting and trapping for current generations”. There is a reason for that. Wildlife and their habitats are our focus and why we own land to ensure that part of the mission. The Commonwealth trusts out agency to conserve and manage all 480+ species of birds and mammals that call Pennsylvania home regardless if you can hunt them or not. The last part of the mission to promote hunting and trapping ties back to the North American Model meaning the funding mechanism we have to ensure we can continue to conserve wildlife. Hunting and trapping license dollars pay for a large portion of how the agency acquires property for wildlife and pays for our staff to help manage the habitat and conserve those populations of wildlife. Without hunting and trapping dollars, our agency would fail to exist and there would be no mechanism to ensure these wildlife are protected. To create a refuges on our state game lands, would not only limit hunting but limit the other types of recreation that exist on our state game lands such as hiking, bird watching,etc. The Rachel Carson Trail runs through this section of this State Game Lands and therefore wound’t be able to be traversed if we established a refuge from use. Any user to the state game lands has the potential to impact wildlife on that game lands. For example, consistent use on a hiking trail through breeding season of songbirds or fawning season for deer.etc. can directly impact how those species ability to carry out their annual cycles. Every person that steps on State Game Lands is still using it and has the ability to impact how the species use that game lands. I hope this information is helpful to understand why the Game Commission exists but why we can’t (or need to) just establish refuges on State Game Lands. How the public can get involved is to see how they can make their own properties more hospitable to wildlife. We have a few ideas here: Six Things You Can Do For Wildlife https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pgc/about-us/get-involved/six-things-you-can-do-for-wildlife Thank you again for reaching out.”
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
2 Members
Mandy Steele
Mandy Steele
Pennsylvania House of Representatives - District 33
Anita Kulik
Anita Kulik
Pennsylvania House of Representatives - District 45
Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith
Executive Director, Pennsylvania Game Commission
Stanley Knick Jr.
Stanley Knick Jr.
President of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners
Dan Puhala
Dan Puhala
Land Management Group Supervisor

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Petition created on August 25, 2025