`games Are Over,' Homicide Suspect Told Victim 
Co-workers Testify That 
Harry Butry Jr., On Trial In 
The Shooting Death Of His 
Estranged Girlfriend, Made 
Ominous Comments About Her 
And Their Two Children Prior

Allentown Man To Head Area Bank

Friday, January 16, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Farmers fear deer damage &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Most hunters applauded the Pennsylvania Game Commission's decision to cut
back on the antlerless deer license allocation last yearAnd most hunters want
to see the agency that manages the state's wildlife resources do more to
bolster whitetail deer numbers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But farmers want nothing of the kind. They want fewer deer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In 1996 deer harvest figures plummeted to almost 80,000 less than were
taken in the record harvest year of 1995. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In 1995, 430,583 whitetails were killed by hunters, according to the Game
Commission. That harvest figure fell to 350,997 in 1996. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Hunters as well as politicians pressured the commission to increase deer
numbers statewide. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The commission eventually responded by reducing the allocation of
antlerless deer licenses from 724,350 in 1996 to 639,900 in 1997. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And that reduction represented an astonishing 108,900 fewer "doe" licenses
than the 748,800 originally proposed for '97 by the commission's bureau of
wildlife management at the agency's April, 1997 meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of that number, about 70,000 went unsold. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even after the implausible decision to lower the '97 allocation, some
hunters continued to criticize the commission, claiming there were too few
deer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And farmers continued to suffer significant crop damage directly related to
the abundance of whitetail deer, according to the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Headquartered in Harrisburg, the Farm Bureau is a lobby organization that
represents the agricultural interest of more than 25,000 state farmers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We understand the pressure put on the Game Commission and we understand
what brought about the commission's actions to increase the deer population,"
said Joel Rotz, a Farm Bureau wildlife damage control specialist, "but the
deer population has not increased in areas where hunters have access to the
deer." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 According to Rotz, many farmers will suffer significant crop damage losses
in 1998 due to the commission's action. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rotz said a Penn State university study- the most recent of its kind- shows
wildlife caused $74 million in crop damage in the state in 1994. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Deer were the biggest offenders. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The heaviest concentration of deer damaged farms are in the southeast and
southwestern portions of the state, but that's not to say problems don't exist
in the northern areas," Rotz said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He added that the situation is so bad that Farm Bureau members have
pressured the organization to establish a crop damage fund that would receive
monies from hunting license fees. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rotz said Game Commission initiatives such as the deer predation and deer
damage farm programs currently in place appeal to farmers and the bureau. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We encourage the commission to continue with programs that already exist,
as they give farmers tools to micro-manage their situation," Rotz explained. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But more than anything Rotz wants the commission to return to a scientific
approach to allocating doe licenses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Science, not political pressure, is what Rotz wants to see fuel the
commission's decisions regarding whitetail management. &nbsp;&nbsp;&amp;n

Farmers Fear Deer Damage 
Most Hunters Applauded The Pennsylvania Game Commission's Decision To Cut Back 
On The Antlerless Deer License Allocation Last Year.

Farmers Fear Deer Damage Most Hunters Applauded The Pennsylvania Game Commission's Decision To Cut Back On The Antlerless Deer License Allocation Last Year.