Couple of points:
Last year the Senate overwhelmingly passed a Bill to allow the PGC to set its own fees but some Representative in the House wouldn't allow the Bill to move out of committee for a vote, so it died.
Right now Oil and Natural gas prices are low so companies aren't moving the product. They have shut down wells until prices come up. So the PGC isn't getting royalties from shut down wells.
Timber prices are also low so there again the PGC isn't getting enough for the timber.
In the past two years the Governor has cut the number of PGC employees by nearly 80. He took snapshots of each agencies complement and froze it where it was at that day. As a result, positions that were vacant due to retirements aren't getting filled. The Middle Creek crew where I work is now short 2 full-time positions on Food & Cover. Every crew in the Southeast Region is short at least 1 worker. The Environmental Educator that worked with thousands of school kids each year at the Visitor Center has left due to the threats of closing the Visitor Center and he has been replaced by a part-time person.
In regards to pheasants, our baseline for stocking pheasants on cooperative properties is 50 acres of cover not within a Safety Zone. This is not to include crops which could be harvested. At least in Lancaster county, no farms meet that requirement. The changes in farming practices has been detrimental to pheasants. Early cutting of hay kills hens on nests and use of Roundup Ready products and farming from property line to property line have eliminated the cover necessary for pheasants to survive.
