Notes off a soiled cuff: With Sunday hunting ban lifted, what’s the next big outdoors controversy for Pennsylvania?

With the lifting of the ban on Sunday hunting effective Sept. 7 when the new law kicks in – cementing weekend hunting here like every other major hunting state already has – we’re wondering what the next big controversy will be.

Seems like we have to have one.

With the governor, lawmakers and game commissioners all clearly signaling there is no going back to the old ways, it will be interesting to see if folks can move on.

* The growing snakehead fishery in Pennsylvania fascinates me, with so many 10-pound-plus fish being caught in the southeastern part of the state. So, I was interested in the recent announcement that a Florida man set a new record in that state, catching a 17-pounder.

But it turns out that the 37.5-inch fish is a different species. In the south, they have the “great snakehead,” also known as bullseye snakehead, that is closely related but different than the northern snakehead we have here. Who knew?

They are both invasive species from Asia that shouldn’t be in the U.S. – but they clearly are here to stay. No longer any reason to pretend that’s not true.

MORE COVERAGE FROM PENNSYLVANIA OUTDOOR NEWS:

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CWD-positive deer found not far from Pittsburgh

* The case of the deer with chronic wasting disease being found on Pittsburgh’s doorstep is an eye-opener and maybe sets a precedent. We have long been told that CWD getting into a huge urban deer herd is a nightmare scenario because deer can’t be managed effectively in the suburbs.

As far as I can tell, CWD has yet to infect white-tailed deer in any major eastern metropolis. Mule deer populations in urban areas along Colorado’s northern Front Range, including around Fort Collins and Boulder, have experienced higher CWD prevalence. But not yet in this part of the country.

Given the average distance yearling male deer disperse here, Pittsburgh could be the first in a few years.

* Before the House Game and Fisheries Committee approved Senate Bill 800 by a 26-0 vote – which changes state law to allow the Fish & Boat Commission to use boat funds to help pay for trout hatcheries – Rep. David Maloney tried to amend the bill.

His amendment, that would have arranged for anglers and boaters to elect Fish & Boat commissioners by voting for them through the state’s electronic licensing system, was defeated along party lines by a 14-12 vote.

The bill likely was approved by the full House and sent to the governor by the time you read this.

* Of special interest, perhaps, at a time when the agricultural influence on the Game Commission board is strong and growing, farmers in the southwest part of the state are complaining that an out-of-control deer population is wreaking havoc on their crops and livelihoods.

To address the issue, a meeting was scheduled July 23 at the Lone Pine Community Center in Washington, Pa., with members of the Game Commission. Farmers from Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland counties were invited.

“We’re trying to ask the Game Commission why they cut so many deer-hunting tags this year from farmers,” Lisa Wherry, president of the Washington County Farm Bureau, told the Uniontown Herald Standard. “They said that won’t change until next year. We’re dealing with the problem now.”

Wherry added that farmers intended to ask game commissioners what they’re allowed to do to “legitimately” control this deer population that they are struggling with. “There are more deer than there are hunters,” she told the Herald Standard.

We’ll have coverage of that meeting in the next issue.