Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB517

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/25/25
• Refer: 3/25/25
• Refer: 6/25/25

Caption

In Pennsylvania Game Commission, further providing for organization of commission; in game or wildlife protection, further providing for report to commission officer and for surrender of carcass to commission officer; in hunting and furtaking, further providing for trespass on private property while hunting; and, in special licenses and permits, providing for agriculture access permit list.

Summary

SB 517 would amend Pennsylvania’s Game Code in several ways aimed at improving wildlife management, agricultural protection, and hunting enforcement. First, it would require the Governor to ensure that at least one Pennsylvania Game Commission member represents the interests of agricultural commodities and normal agricultural operations, and it defines those terms by reference to the Right-to-Farm Law. It also directs the Game Commission to create a self-reporting system for people authorized to remove deer for crop damage, allowing harvest reports to be submitted by phone, online application, or website. The bill also changes rules for surrendering game carcasses and for trespass while hunting. It would allow carcasses to be delivered to a commission-specified processor for final disposition, rather than only being surrendered directly to a commission officer, and it defines “processor” as a location willing to accept donated animals. On trespass, the bill expands and clarifies prohibited conduct by adding purple paint notice as a form of trespass warning, while also increasing penalties and hunting-license forfeiture periods for violations. It preserves an exception for unarmed people retrieving a hunting dog and excludes the purple-paint provision from first- and second-class counties. A major new provision would require the Game Commission to establish an “agriculture access permit list” by January 1, 2026. This program would connect landowners experiencing wildlife-related damage with qualified hunters who can help control wildlife populations. The commission would maintain a database of participating hunters, create a request system for landowners, and match parties based on proximity, need, and hunter availability. The bill’s impact on state law would be to broaden the Game Commission’s administrative duties, formalize agricultural representation in commission governance, create new reporting and carcass-handling procedures, and strengthen trespass enforcement for hunters. It would also create a new statewide access-and-assistance program intended to reduce crop and property damage from wildlife while providing more structured opportunities for hunters to assist landowners. The available voting history suggests the bill has received strong committee support, advancing out of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee by a 10-1 vote. No committee transcript is available, but the structure of the bill indicates generally pro-agriculture and pro-wildlife-management sentiment. The main points of contention are likely to be the tougher trespass penalties, the use of purple paint as notice against trespass, and the county-based exception to that rule, along with any concerns about how the new access program will be administered and how hunters will be qualified and matched to landowners.

Impact

SB 517 would amend Title 34 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes by adding agricultural representation requirements for the Game Commission, changing reporting and carcass surrender procedures for certain wildlife harvests, revising hunting trespass offenses and penalties, and creating a new agriculture access permit list program. It would affect the Pennsylvania Game Commission, hunters, landowners dealing with wildlife damage, and persons authorized to remove deer for crop damage purposes, while also incorporating the Right-to-Farm Law’s definitions into Game Code governance.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have favorable momentum, as shown by its 10-1 committee vote to be reported as committed. The overall policy direction suggests support for agricultural interests, wildlife damage control, and clearer enforcement tools for trespass, which likely explains the strong committee backing. No transcript is available, but the vote indicates limited opposition at the committee stage.

Contention

Likely areas of disagreement include the bill’s tougher trespass penalties for hunters, especially the increase in offense grading and longer hunting privilege forfeitures, as well as the expansion of trespass notice to include purple paint markings. The exclusion of the purple-paint rule in first- and second-class counties may also be controversial because it creates geographic inconsistency. Some stakeholders may also question how the new agriculture access permit list will be implemented, how hunters will be screened, and whether the commission’s new agricultural representation requirement is sufficiently specific.