The specialty plate, available now through the Department of Transportation, is adorned with artwork featuring iconic Pennsylvania hunting, fishing, and boating imagery including the white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, and anglers fishing from a kayak on a scenic river.
The license plate costs $40 plus the registration fee, of which $14 will be deposited into a Youth Hunting and Fishing Restricted Account to be allocated evenly to the PGC and PFBC for the purpose of promoting youth hunting and fishing activities.
To purchase a PA Sportsman specialty license plate, visit the PennDOT website, then choose the PA Sportsman option.
“The outdoors are important to so many Pennsylvanians, and our state’s outdoor resources – both now and in the future – depend upon the people who care enough to protect them,” said PGC Executive Director Steve Smith. “Hunters, trappers, boaters, and anglers play an active role in conserving fish and wildlife and their habitats, but the torch they carry ultimately will be passed to the generations to come, highlighting the continual need to involve youth in these activities and shape them as stewards who one day can pass the torch to those who follow. With this license plate, sportsmen and sportswomen can help that cause while showing their pride in the things that make it all possible.”
PFBC Executive Director Tim Schaeffer reinforced the value of growing youth education programs around conservation-based recreational activities and stressed the importance of safety for those who enjoy the woods and the water.
“Fishing and boating are year-round lifetime activities for individuals and families in Pennsylvania,” said Schaeffer. “It’s critical that we introduce young people to outdoor recreation and instill a conservation ethic early on. Equipped with the skills needed to enjoy all that Pennsylvania’s waters have to offer, they are also more likely to become stewards of our aquatic resources. To me, the best part of the license plate may be that the adult and child depicted are wearing their life jackets. It will be great to have that public safety reminder on roadways across the Commonwealth.”
Both the PGC and PFBC have youth education programs that encourage interest in outdoor recreational activities including hunting, trapping, fishing, boating, and conservation.
Popular PFBC youth programs include Trout in the Classroom (TIC), which provides educational experiences for students and teachers who raise Rainbow Trout from eggs to fingerling-size fish in aquariums as part of their school curriculums.
During the 2023-24-25 school year, 57,114 students in 417 classrooms across 61 counties participated in TIC, and the program has reached more than 525,000 students since 2008.
Additionally, each year on the Saturday before the statewide opening day of trout season in April, the PFBC holds its Mentored Youth Trout Fishing Day.
This special day is offered annually to allow youth participants ages 15 and under to learn how to become successful, ethical anglers while fishing with their licensed adult mentors.
The PGC reaches into more than 300 schools statewide through its administration of the National Archery in the Schools Program and offers educational curricula through its Wildlife on WiFi and Seedlings for Schools programs.
Junior Game Warden Camps held each summer provide an opportunity for youth to experience the broad scope of work performed by conservation officers, while organized Junior Pheasant Hunts might give young hunters their first glimpse of the action that awaits them afield.
These programs are just a snapshot of each agency’s involvement with youth.
Click Here for the complete announcement.
[Posted: September 30, 2024] PA Environment Digest
