When deputy state game wardens find individuals in possession of controlled substances or drug paraphernalia on state game lands, they can file the appropriate charges.

But on properties enrolled in the Hunter Access Program – private lands where the Game Commission works with landowners to allow public hunting – deputies don’t have the same authority to enforce drug violations. Instead, a deputy must request assistance from a state game warden or police, and when those options aren’t available in a timely fashion, the violations might go unaddressed.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today took a step to change that, giving preliminary approval to a regulation that extends the drug-enforcement authority deputies now have on game lands to Hunter Access properties, too. The measure is slated to be brought back to the January meeting for a final vote.

State game wardens and deputies report they are encountering more drug violations on Hunter Access properties than ever before.