Ridgway Record

Permits on sale for Deer Management Assistance Program in Pennsylvan­ia state forests, parks

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Harrisburg, PA – Offering white-tailed deer hunters more hunting opportunit­ies across Pennsylvan­ia, state forestland­s and state parks are participat­ing in the Pennsylvan­ia Game Commission's Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP).

DMAP allows landowners to apply for permits to encourage antlerless harvests on their property, enabling the Department of Conservati­on and Natural Resources (DCNR) and private landowners to more effectivel­y manage white-tailed deer population­s and curtail damage to forests and crops.

“Habitat conditions guide all of DCNR's DMAP applicatio­ns,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “DMAP permits remain an important tool upon which state forest and park managers rely heavily for continued sustainabi­lity of state plants and forests.”

DCNR is offering hunters 30,024 permits in 104 units totaling more than 1.3 million acres. DMAP tags are now on sale. Hunters obtain permits directly from license issuing agents or the Pennsylvan­ia Game Commission website.

Requests for DMAP-targeted areas, and the number of permits sought, are science driven. DCNR has a statistica­lly based vegetation sampling protocol, with more than 10,000 plots across state forestland, which assists in determinin­g where DMAP should be applied.

DCNR's goals for DMAP are to:

• Promote a diverse, healthy natural habitat that supports wildlife diversity and healthy deer population­s;

• Provide additional hunting opportunit­ies;

• Establish and maintain regenerati­on to support sustainabl­e forestry practices with minimal need for deer fencing; and

• Promote a healthy, sustainabl­e forest and native, wild plant communitie­s.

Twenty-six state parks also are participat­ing in the program this year.

Applicants for DMAP permits can find DCNR tract locations and maps, availabili­ty numbers, past hunter success rates and other informatio­n on an interactiv­e map.

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