DEC Adopts Ten-Year Management Plan for Ring-Necked Pheasants

ALBANY, NY (02/02/2010)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced the adoption of a new plan to guide DEC's management actions for wild and state-propagated ring-necked pheasants for the next decade. The document revises DEC's 1999 version of "A Ten-Year Management Plan for Ring-necked Pheasants in New York."

"This plan incorporates the extensive information gathered by DEC biologists and input provided by sportsmen and other partners to provide a comprehensive assessment of pheasant management in New York," Commissioner Grannis said. "We look forward to fostering and continuing the tradition of pheasant hunting opportunities in our state for many years to come."

New York's wild pheasant population has declined by more than 90 percent since the peaks seen in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Numerous factors contributed to the decline, with the main causes being the loss of fallow grasslands for nesting and brood-rearing, a decline in grain farming and expanding commercial and residential development. Most of the pheasants hunted in New York come from DEC's pheasant propagation programs. Each year, more than 100,000 pheasants are hatched for fall stocking and cooperative rearing and release programs that provide recreational hunting opportunities for hunters of all ages and abilities.

The plan announced today provides an action plan for guiding management and use of pheasants for the coming decade. It was developed by a team of DEC biologists and technicians following a review of the current pheasant management plan and programs, looking at how other states manage the birds, and talking to sportsmen and other pheasant program partners and cooperators. The pheasant plan revision process included a two-month public comment period that ended in November 2009.

Management activities directed by the final plan include:

• Establishing a focus area in western New York to concentrate efforts for wild pheasant management by DEC and other interested organizations. The focus area would utilize available resources and help determine if increasing wild pheasant populations is possible under current biological, social, and fiscal conditions.
• Extending pheasant hunting seasons in most areas of the state to provide greater hunting opportunities.
• Reducing the size of the cock-only hunting area in western New York to reflect changing habitat and land use.
• Discontinuing the Young Pheasant Release Program (YPRP) after 2010, while continuing the Cooperative Day-old Pheasant Chick Program.
• Increasing adult pheasant production from 25,000 to 30,000 birds annually beginning in 2011.
• Discontinuing the supply of adult birds for field trials.
• Establishing one or more pheasant hunting areas for people with disabilities.

The pheasant management plan and additional information about pheasants in New York can be found on the DEC website at: www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7071.html. If you do not have access to the internet, please call (607) 273-3763 to request a copy of the plan. DEC appreciates the input provided by pheasant hunters and others during development of the new plan.