A new bill would allow all Pennsylvania farmers whose crops are being damaged by deer or other wildlife to hire sharpshooters or open their land up for hunters to bag as many of the creatures as they want.

Current law allows only farmers or their employees to kill large numbers of nuisance wildlife, and only if their crops include fruit, vegetables, livestock, poultry and beehives. The bill would allow contractors and expand the types of farms to cover all agricultural commodities.

The legislation, drafted by a Chester County lawmaker and unveiled this morning, would also allow the state's 2,500-plus cities, townships and boroughs — and even homeowners associations — to potentially do the same.

Only a city of the first class — of which there is now only one, Philadelphia — is currently permitted to take such action.

State Rep. Art Hershey, the author of House Bill 500, said the measures are aimed at protecting crops from damage and people from Lyme disease, which is spread by ticks often found on deer or in areas where the deer population is heavy.

"This legislation would expand the current law to protect all agricultural communities. For example, landscape nurseries were never included in the current law," Hershey said.

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association said deer and other wildlife cause an average $20,000 in damage to each nursery in the state, and about $90 million a year in crop losses on farms.

"What Art Hershey has done here in drafting this bill is he's extended the right of farmers to hire specialists to clear his land of deer," said the spokesman, Chad Forcey.

Although Hershey's bill would allow farmers to open their land up to hunters, who could potentially bag as many deer as they want, such methods are considered less efficient than hiring specialists, said Forcey.

"There are restrictions on effective deer removal with respect to hunting that makes these programs not really quite workable for farmers who are truly threatened," he said. "Contract employees don't have to abide by these restrictions."

Secondarily, Hershey's bill would allow municipalities and "common-interest communities" such as homeowners associations to apply for and receive deer-removal permits from the Pennsylvania Game Commission in under 30 days, as now only Philadelphia can.

"If you're a local government unit and want to allow hunters to come in and do their thing, you probably can," said Kerry Golden, executive director of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

Stephen Mohr, a former Game Commissioner who lives in Bainbridge, said the bill should open up more opportunities for hunters to handle deer overpopulation in certain parts of the state.

"It would be so easy for a municipality to exclude hunters and say, 'We're going to bring in sharpshooters.' If that's the intent of this proposal I would be against it. Wherever hunting can be carried out safely, it should be the preferred method to control deer heard," he said.

• CONTACT US: tmurse@LNPnews.com or 481-6021

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