Stocking occurred twice in February in the headwaters of Stony Creek - a new wild pheasant introduction site in Somerset County.  Fifty birds were released on February 5, and just over 200 additional birds were released in the pre-dawn hours on February 20. 
          According to Dave Putnam, Wildlife Biologist, Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania, all of this year’s ring-necked pheasants were live-trapped in Montana.  The goal is to release a total of 300 at the Somerset site by the time the snow melts out west. The birds were released on private lands where the landowners have agreed to cooperate with the project and not allow pheasant hunting or dog training while the birds become established.
          The project started more than a decade ago with funding from the R. K. Mellon Foundation and cooperative efforts from California University of Pennsylvania, Pheasants Forever, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other groups. 
          Wild pheasant stocking began in the headwaters of Stony Creek several weeks ago.  According to Scott Tomlinson, PGC Land Management Group Supervisor for Fayette and Somerset counties, the planning, however, began ten years ago through the efforts of his predecessor Cliff Guindon, the Somerset Chapter of Pheasants Forever and local landowners.
          “We’ve had great cooperation from the farmers, through adjusting their planting and enrolling land in the CREP program,” Tomlinson said.  “Our total project area is currently 15,000 acres, mostly farms that had been enrolled in the PGC Cooperative Access Program.  The habitat is the key.”
          Northeast PGC Commissioner Jay Delaney is one of the biggest supporters of the wild pheasant reintroduction program.  “Everything is driven by the habitat, and we are behind the cooperative effort to improve pheasant habitat,” he said.  “Good pheasant habitat means good habitat for many other animals, so it isn’t a one-species effort.
          “I’m passionate about wild pheasants, but nobody wants to waste time and effort to stock wild birds if the habitat is not there,” Delaney said.  “Goal number one in our new Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan is to restore self-sustaining and huntable pheasant populations, and we are moving toward that goal.”
          Tomlinson added, “The farmers are as excited as we are.  It is a fantastic thing to see everybody working together.  I’m 100 percent behind this project.”
          Some hunters applaud the reintroduction of wild ring-necked pheasants, while others wonder why all of the time and effort is being put into trapping and transferring wild birds from western states. Why not just stock more pen-raised birds?  Putnam addresses this concern.
          “The bottom line here is you cannot get a good wild population of birds from farm-reared stock.  We could purchase fine game farm stock for less than $20.00 per bird, but we would end up with the same result we have now – no vigorous reproducing population,” he said.  “More than a million-and-a-half game farm pheasants have been released in Pennsylvania in the past decade.  Many of them are hens and thousands of these were released in the spring.  Some of them have survived, some have produced broods, but few broods ever made it to the fall and none, as far as we know, have resulted in a thriving wild population.  This is in spite of all of the habitat work that has been done in the past decade and the investment of millions of dollars in the Conservation Reserve Program.” 
          Putnam continued, “If we thought pen-reared birds would work, we would not be going to this effort to obtain wild birds at more than ten times the cost of the pen-reared birds.   It takes a drive of over 3,400 miles to pick up and return wild birds to Pennsylvania.”
          Stocked pheasants also have a place in the management plan.
 “There is a place for game farm birds in marginal habitat not suited for wild birds,” said Delaney.  “I believe the PGC can become less dependent on game farm pheasants in a few years.  Certainly it depends on the success of the wild pheasant re-introduction program.”
          The headwaters of Stony Creek, in Somerset County, is the third area to receive wild birds.  Previously, wild birds trapped in South Dakota or Montana have been released in the Pike Run watershed in Washington County and in what is referred to as the Central Susquehanna area, which contains portions of Northumberland, Montour, Columbia and Lycoming counties.  Pike Run was first stocked with wild birds in February, 2005, and birds were first released in Central Susquehanna area in February, 2007.
          Under proposed regulations, passed in January by the Game Commissioners, these three areas are now identified as “Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas.”  The Board action has banned the release of any pen-raised pheasants, including PGC-propagated pheasants, within these areas.  There will be no pheasant hunting season in the WPRAs.  Also, to limit disturbances to nesting hen pheasants, dog training of any manner will be prohibited in these WPRAs from the end of small game season in early February, through July 31, each year.  Prior to this PGC designation, to be finalized by the board in April, the no-hunting, no-dog-training rules were enforced only by cooperating landowners.

           “Male pheasants crow in the spring to attract hens, and we can use this to gain an index of the population,” Putnam explained.  “Crowing counts were run in the Somerset project area in the spring of 2008, to establish a background level to compare with future years’ counts.  Crowing counts will be conducted again this spring.” 
          Another measure is electronic monitoring of the stocked hens.
          “All of the birds are fitted with leg bands for identification, and 55 of the hens have radio transmitters,” Tomlinson said.  “It is too early to provide data, but I can say that so far the survival rate of the released birds has exceeded our expectations.  Randy Crespo will be tracking the released birds to assess mortality and habitat usage throughout the study.”
          All parties associated with the Somerset release site are optimistic about the prospects here and for reestablishing naturally-reproducing pheasants in other suitable areas in the state.
           “We are well on our way, but there is a lot more work to do,” stated Commissioner Delaney.  “More habitat needs to be improved, and we are looking for areas to grow the wild pheasant program.”