Jun. 10, 2025
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) recently announced what it described as a “controlled” burn of more than 2,200 acres using aircraft to start the blaze, said Rep. David Maloney (R-Berks), chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee.
“This week, the agency’s Southwest region conducted its first helicopter burn, covering 2,271 acres on State Game Lands 108 – making this the largest prescribed burn EVER completed by the agency. Location, infrastructure and habitat objectives aligned for ideal helicopter ignition.
Hand-lighting 2,271 acres would have taken 3-5 days - unrealistic given the weather and smoke concerns. Limited radio signal and visibility rule out drone use. With a helicopter, the entire unit safely ignited in under three hours...,” according to a PGC Facebook post.
Shortly after, Maloney shared the PGC post on X. The post was later removed from social media.
Maloney today issued the following statement:
“I cannot imagine a foolhardier approach to the PGC’s mission of wildlife management – ‘safe’ for what?
“This is the exact time of year ground-nesting wildlife, such as turkey and grouse, are raising and protecting their young. Tiny fawns hold in tall grass for safety while their mothers forage for food to bring back to them, unless they never come back and are running from the blaze.
“No burns of any type should be conducted while our wildlife and game animals are in their reproductive and nurturing cycles. If it was so needed to be done at this time, slow handset burns at least allow wildlife management officials to actually see what is being burned.
“What this post tells me is that they used a helicopter to set fire to 2,271 acres on a day with low visibility. This is reckless behavior and likely killed more game than the benefits of a ‘controlled’ burn will produce.
“As the PGC admitted that this is the first helicopter burn ever, let us hope they learned a lesson and will ensure this is the last.”
Representative David Maloney
130th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Charles Lardner
717.260.6161
clardner@pahousegop.com
RepMaloney.com