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Pennsylvania wildlife agencies face budget shortfalls, report urges shared services
A new study of Pennsylvania's wildlife agencies recommends the Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission share services and consolidate law enforcement, potentially cutting 17% of their combined workforce and saving $34 million a year. Both agencies say they will review the report's recommendations but have not committed to immediate action.
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Report: Pennsylvania wildlife agencies at financial risk without operational changes
Pennsylvania's two wildlife agencies may exhaust their reserve funds by 2034 unless they adopt significant operational changes, according to an independent study released Tuesday. The report, produced by the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), a non-profit organization contracted by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), recommends consolidating administrative functions and unifying law enforcement to save an estimated $34 million annually.
The two commissions jointly commissioned the review at a cost of $49,000. The report found that Pennsylvania is the only state with separate, independent agencies for fish and wildlife management. It identified substantial duplication across the two organizations, with most administrative functions existing in both commissions.
The study benchmarked the combined workforce of approximately 1,298 employees against comparable agencies, finding roughly 221 more positions than expected. It recommended reducing the combined workforce by about 17% through unified law enforcement and cuts in overlapping executive, legal, and engineering functions. The report also suggests consolidating field offices and co-locating staff to reduce facility costs, and proposes unifying law enforcement under a single structure.
The study explicitly does not recommend merging the two agencies into one. Instead, it calls for sharing services and eliminating duplicate roles. Additional recommendations include consolidating administrative functions. The report also notes that the commissions' deputy law enforcement programs, with 140 officers in the Game Commission and 36 in the Fish and Boat Commission, should be eliminated.
Fiscal outlook and reserves
The report warns that both agencies could exhaust their reserve funds by 2034 if current spending patterns continue. The Game Commission is projected to deplete 95% of its reserves, while the Fish and Boat Commission faces similar depletion. The findings underscore the urgency of addressing structural inefficiencies.
The report also highlights that Pennsylvania is the only state with separate agencies for fish and wildlife management, a structure that results in duplicated administrative functions. For example, the Game Commission operates 74 field offices, compared to an average of 29 for similar agencies in other states, according to the study.
Agency responses
Both commissions have stated they will review the report's non-mandatory recommendations but have not committed to immediate action. Steve Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the Commission takes fiscal responsibility seriously and noted that the recommendations do not reflect immediate action.
The Fish and Boat Commission similarly emphasized that the recommendations are not mandates and would require detailed analysis before any potential implementation. Both agencies stressed the need for careful review of the report's findings before making any decisions.
Next steps
The report was originally due by the end of August but was extended. The two agencies split the cost of the review. Moving forward, any major changes would likely require action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, as current law treats the two funds separately and does not allow for shared appointments of employees across the agencies.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
The report recommends the two agencies share services, such as law enforcement, to reduce overlapping functions and save money.
Both commissions stated they will review the report's non-mandatory recommendations but have not committed to immediate action.
The independent study revealed that both agencies may exhaust all of their reserve funds by 2034 if changes are not made.
The two agencies contracted with Wildlife Management Institute, a non-profit organization, on a $49,000 study of their operations.
Pennsylvania is the only state to have independent, separate agencies for fish and wildlife, and the study revealed most administrative functions exist in both commissions.
The study determined the two agencies have roughly 221 more positions when benchmarked against agencies of a similar size.
The report said the combined workforce could potentially be reduced by about 17% through unified law enforcement and reductions in overlapping executive, legal and engineering functions, generating on the order of $34 million a year savings.
The report suggests the two agencies unify their law enforcement into a single structure.
Other recommendations include consolidating overlapping bureaus and administrative functions and study roles to flatten the structure.
The agency may also reduce and co-locate field offices.
The report recommends putting finances on a sustainable footing and clearing the legal path on certain fund use restrictions and asking the General Assembly to authorize a joint, shared services framework.
PFBC released a statement saying the recommendations presented are not mandates and require detailed analysis and potential action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
PGC executive director Steve Smith said the Commission takes fiscal responsibility seriously and that the recommendations do not reflect any imminent or immediate action.
The report recommended the elimination of the deputy law enforcement program for both agencies, approved effective Sept. 1.
The PGC had 140 deputies and the PFBC had 36 to help wardens and waterways conservation officers.
Framing: Highlights the fiscal crisis facing Pennsylvania's wildlife agencies and the report's recommendation for major workforce cuts. — Measured and factual, with a focus on the report's findings and official responses.
Facts Included:
The Wildlife Management Institute assessment released Tuesday found that both the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission are projected to spend more than they take in for the next 10 years under current operations.
The Game Commission is expected to lose 95% of its reserve fund balance by fiscal year 2034, while the Fish and Boat Commission will exhaust its combined reserves by that same year.
The report recommends cutting 221 jobs and merging law enforcement operations to save $34 million annually.
The evaluation recommends eliminating roughly 221 positions from the combined workforce of 1,298 employees.
The proposed figure is based on benchmarks from Michigan, New York and Ohio.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that splits fish and wildlife management across two independent commissions.
The Game Commission operates 74 field offices compared to a five-state average of 29 offices for similar agencies.
The study notably does not recommend merging the two agencies into one.
The two commissions contracted WMI for the review and split the $49,500 cost.
It was originally due for completion June 30 before the deadline was extended to Aug. 31.
The report recommends the two agencies share services, such as law enforcement, to reduce overlapping functions and save money.
Both commissions stated they will review the report's non-mandatory recommendations but have not committed to immediate action.
The independent study revealed that both agencies may exhaust all of their reserve funds by 2034 if changes are not made.
The two agencies contracted with Wildlife Management Institute, a non-profit organization, on a $49,000 study of their operations.
Pennsylvania is the only state to have independent, separate agencies for fish and wildlife, and the study revealed most administrative functions exist in both commissions.
The study determined the two agencies have roughly 221 more positions when benchmarked against agencies of a similar size.
The report said the combined workforce could potentially be reduced by about 17% through unified law enforcement and reductions in overlapping executive, legal and engineering functions, generating on the order of $34 million a year savings.
The report suggests the two agencies unify their law enforcement into a single structure.
Other recommendations include consolidating overlapping bureaus and administrative functions and study roles to flatten the structure.
The agency may also reduce and co-locate field offices.
The report recommends putting finances on a sustainable footing and clearing the legal path on certain fund use restrictions and asking the General Assembly to authorize a joint, shared services framework.
PFBC released a statement saying the recommendations presented are not mandates and require detailed analysis and potential action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
PGC executive director Steve Smith said the Commission takes fiscal responsibility seriously and that the recommendations do not reflect any imminent or immediate action.
The report recommended the elimination of the deputy law enforcement program for both agencies, approved effective Sept. 1.
The PGC had 140 deputies and the PFBC had 36 to help wardens and waterways conservation officers.
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimA study released Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2023, by the Wildlife Management Institute found that both the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission may exhaust all of their reserve funds by 2034 if changes are not made.⚠ date inconsistency in source
ClaimThe study found that both agencies may exhaust their reserve funds by 2034 if current spending trends continue, with the Game Commission losing 95% of its reserves and the Fish and Boat Commission exhausting its combined reserves.
ClaimThe report said the combined workforce could potentially be reduced by about 17% through unified law enforcement and reductions in overlapping executive, legal and engineering functions, generating on the order of $34 million a year savings.
ClaimPFBC released a statement saying the recommendations presented are not mandates and require detailed analysis and potential action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
ClaimPGC executive director Steve Smith said the Commission takes fiscal responsibility seriously and the recommendations do not reflect any imminent or immediate action.
ClaimThe report argues that the division of fish and wildlife management across two independent commissions reduces effectiveness during peak enforcement seasons and creates public confusion.
ClaimImplementation of the report's recommendations faces legal obstacles because the Game Fund and Fish Fund are legally separate and current law does not allow shared appointment of employees across both agencies.