Thursday, April 24, 2014

PA DMAP Deadline Approaches

Landowners wishing to enroll in the program must have applications postmarked by May 1.

Landowners looking for extra help managing deer on their properties still have time to join a program designed to do just that.

The deadline to submit applications for enrollment or renewal in the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) is May 1.

The application deadline is earlier than it has been in previous years. Changes were made to the timetable in an effort to ensure all DMAP permits are available for purchase when hunting licenses for the new license year go on sale the second Monday of June.

Applications, accepted only through U.S. mail, must be postmarked by May 1, and must be mailed to the Game Commission Region Office serving the county in which the applicant's property is situated.

Landowners may obtain DMAP applications and instructions from the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on the DMAP link in the "Quick Clicks" section on the right side of the homepage. Applications and instructions also can be obtained from any Game Commission Region Office or the Harrisburg headquarters.

Eligible lands for DMAP are: public lands; private lands where no fee is charged for hunting; and hunting club lands owned in fee title, so long as the club was established prior to Jan. 1, 2000, and it provides a club charter and list of current members to the agency.

Coupons for DMAP antlerless deer harvest permits are issued to landowners at a rate of one coupon for every five acres in agricultural operations or one coupon for every 50 acres for all other land uses. Management plans are required of all public land applicants, for applications enrolling two or more areas within one air mile of each other, for applications that request more than the standard rate for issuance of DMAP harvest permits, and for applications in which the property acreage falls below the minimum for the standard issuance rate.

Landowners must identify property boundaries in a manner approved by the Game Commission. Landowners will be allotted one coupon for each DMAP permit allocated for their property, and they may provide up to two DMAP coupons per DMAP area to a licensed hunter. Landowners may not charge or accept any remuneration for a DMAP coupon.

Once landowners are approved for enrollment in DMAP, hunters can purchase DMAP permits for $10.70 for residents and $35.70 for nonresidents at any license issuing agent or through the Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS), which is the agency's point-of-sale electronic license system.

Landowners have the option of receiving DMAP coupons and directly distributing them to hunters of their choice, or they can choose the "no coupon" option and allow any hunter to directly purchase a DMAP permit from a license issuing agent to hunt on their property.

Listings of DMAP properties on public land or private land, where landowners have chosen to make their information available to the public, are available through the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us). Hunters without access to the agency's website can obtain the property listing by mailing a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with a letter indicating their county of interest, to the Game Commission Region Office responsible for that particular county.

Region Office contact information, and listings of counties that each office covers, is as follows:

Northwest Region Office, P.O. Box 31, Franklin, PA 16323 (814-432-3188)

• Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties.

Southwest Region Office, 4820 Route 711, Bolivar, PA 15923 (724-238-9523)

• Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Northcentral Region Office, P.O. Box 5038, 1566 S. RT 44 Hwy., Jersey Shore, PA 17740 (570-398-4744)

• Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, and Union counties.

Southcentral Region Office, 8627 William Penn Highway, Huntingdon, PA 16652 (814-643-1831)

• Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder and York counties.

Northeast Region Office, 3917 Memorial Highway, Dallas, PA 18612 (570-675-1143)

• Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Southeast Region Office, 253 Snyder Road, Reading, PA 19605 (610-926-3136)

• Berks, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties.

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Contact:
Travis Lau
717-705-6541
trlau@pa.gov