By RALPH W. ABELE Pennsylvania is the only state in which fish and wildlife agen- cies are separate. They are both independent administrative agencies, not under the gover- nor’s jurisdiction, and were cre- ated that way. In 1962 and 1972 (as well as a few other times many years ago), efforts were mounted, usually by a few members of the General Assem- bly, to look at the feasibility of merging the two agencies. Formal studies have been con- ducted by the Wildlife Manage- ment Institute for the Joint State Government Commission, and because the present system is working well and no signifi- cant savings could be realized, such efforts at merger have faded away. Bigness does not imply effi- ciency, and that tenet has been proven again and again, not only in government but in busi- ness. The Pennsylvania Federa- tion of Sportsmen’s Clubs has gone on record, not only in its bylaws but several times over the years, the most recent of which was on September 21, 1986, as opposing any efforts to combine these two agencies. In March of 1972, the Pennsyl- vania Fish Commission reiter- ated its long-standing conviction that specialized service is best performed by specialists. “Whereas, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission was formed by an Act of the Legislature on March 30, 1866, for the specific purposes of halting the pollution of rivers, lakes and streams of the Commonwealth and for the protection, propagation and management of the fisheries resources; and, Whereas, for more than 100 years the Pennsylvania Fish Commission has employed a highly trained staff of biologists, fish culturists, engineers, law enforcement officers and administrators, to carry out its mandated programs and objec- tives; and, Whereas, the science of fisher- ies management, propagation and protection is a highly spe- cialized field which cannot be duplicated by any other group or organization; and, Whereas, the administration of boating laws, rules and regu- lations, along with the design and construction of facilities, navigational aids, and other programs to regulate, insure the safety of, and provide for the needs of citizen boaters requires a high degree of specialized knowledge; and, Whereas, the differences between the protection and management of fish and waters and the other natural resources of the Commonwealth are so great that it would be impossi- ble to educate, train and develop management skills in any single group which could effectively carry out a general natural resources, or fish and wildlife management, conserva- tion programs; and, Whereas, an independent study made by the Wildlife Management Institute, a highly qualified private organization composed of impartial natural resource professionals, for the Joint State Government Com- mission in 1962 clearly showed there would be no significant savings and no improvement in services provided to the sports- men and general public by merging the Fish Commission with any other agency of state government; and, Whereas, the program and services provided by the Penn- sylvania Fish Commission to the public of this Common- wealth are nationally recog- nized and have attracted an increasing number of nonresi- dents to visit our state because of the quality of fishing and boating opportunities to be found within our borders; Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the members of the Penn- sylvania Fish Commission, in formal session assembled, on this 30th -day of March 1972, hereby express their unanimous conviction that this Commis- sion, its staff and employees should remain, according to law, an independent agency of state government; and that no useful purpose or improvement in service could be served by merging the Pennsylvania Fish Commission with the Pennsyl- vania Game Commission or with any other agency of gov- ernment...” This policy statement was reaffirmed at the 172nd Com- mission meeting, October 20, 1986. There is a singularity of pur- pose throughout our entire operation that is seldom seen elsewhere. Despite great inter- nal diversification throughout each bureau, division and sec- tion, the product of service to Pennsylvania and its visitors has made the Pennsylvania Fish Commission a model operation, admired, respected and envied throughout the entire United States and Canada. (Ralph W. Abele is the Execu- tive Director of the Pennsyl- vania Fish Commission.) Something I would like to introduce you to Mary Smith. Mary is being discriminated against by our government. She is 55 years old and a widow. For 15 years she has been gainfully employed by the same firm. She is good at her job, has many friends and is an honest hard- working, law-abiding citizen of her community. Mary’s home is paid for and neat as a pin. She votes in every election, goes to church regu- larly and does more than her share of community service work. She is not a drunk or a dope addict or a street walker or even a litter bug. She always buckles up for safety and closes the matchbook before striking. A fine upstanding citizen, you say? Then, why is she being dis- criminated against? Because she is single. She pays an extraordinarily high income tax because she only has herself as a deduction. She is ineligible for any public assistance of any kind because she is above the poverty line, but just barely. Instead of the government rewarding her for her good citi- zenship and excellent work Toby COLEMAN record, they overtax her. Let us now meet John Jones. John has been on the welfare rolls for the last 17 years, with the exception of the 2 years he spent in the Army. He is 40 years old, drinks heavily and abuses his wife and 5 children. He has never held a job for more than 6 months (long enough to collect), has never voted and has been involved in 2 major car accidents while driv- ing under the influence. Under our present welfare system this ‘‘upstanding citi- zen” is rewarded by his govern- ment with money, free medical care for himself and his family, free eye exams and glasses, food stamps, a heating allow- ance, a free college education for his children and a rent subsidy, not to mention the lar- gess of his ‘particular religious persuasion on holidays. There are free social services available to him, and all of this without ever doing a ‘lick’ of work. The sad part of it is that Mary Smith and John Jones are not the exception, but the rule. It seems to me that “the whole concept of who shall be helped and who not in America must be rethought and the fair, humane and just corrections made. All able-bodied welfare recipi- ents must be made to “work for their bread” just like everyone else, and the single citizens more fairly treated by the gov- ernment. We all know that the unfortunate poor who cannot care for themselves for one reason or another should be provided for. But those thou- sands who make it their “work”’ not to work must be kicked off the ‘‘free ride.” Our welfare system desper- ately needs revision and now. Aren’t you tired of supporting the “free loaders.” It’s something to think about. (Toby Coleman, a Back Moun- tain resident, is a columnist for The Dallas Post. Her column appears regularly.) Investiture held new member; Beth Turner, Lori By HOWARD J. GROSSMAN Special to The Dallas Post Dr. Laurence J. Peter, author of “The Peter ‘Principle’’ has written a sequel titled “The Peter Pyramind.”’ In his theory of organization, Dr. Peter suggests that most organizations historically have a hierarchy of players who sym- bolize the Egyptian pyramid. He notes, however, that ‘the operational pyramid by which we try to get things done in our everyday lives is a base-up pyr- amid resting on its point.” The inverted pyramid is dem- onstrated through an examina- tion of how significant struc- tural changes occur and complexities are added, starting with a single apple which becomes part of a lengthy man- ufacturing, production, market- ing, promotion, and sales process. As complexities grow, the age old theory that ‘‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; the larger the chain the more weak links” prevails. In other words, as .society sharply increases its-way of conducting business and more people and thoughts get into the adminis- trative chain, the more likley there is that something that will go wrong with the process and the inverted pyramid gets out of control. Pointing to the need today to use pesticides to spray on apples, Peter claims that this leads to a further search for phosphates thus increasing pol- lution and environmental prob- lems. He believes that the inverted pyramid is capable of infinite expansion. It not only creates complexities, it creates tremendous wastage in human resources and money. He notes that throughout his pyramid studies, a constant principle seems to be at work. ‘Procedures that start out simple and effective, end up big and efficient. Programs that start out small and beautiful end up in a big tangled, ugly mess. Plans that start out clear and comprehensible, end up involuted and obscure. Projects that start out on a human scale, end up as impersonal, cumber- some, inept bureaucracies. His conclusion, therefore, is the def- inition of the Peter Pyramid: “Systems start small and grow to occupy all our time and space.” Peter then takes on govern- ment as a chief example of the Peter Pyramid. He notes, how- ever, that certain avenues of exploration require complexity, such as scientific discoveries involving single cells and the solar system. Thus, he believes there are some good traits con- nected with Peter Pyramid, although much of his analysis negates the good traits and con- centrates on the negative aspects of the Peter Pyramid. In describing the spread of government and bureaucracy, Peter notes that ‘‘capitalistic societies, based on the concept of free enterprise and individual liberty, cannot exist for long in a pure form because uncon- trolled free enterprise leads to monopolies that eliminate com- petition and ultimately cause the destruction of free enter- prise. Therefore, governments sub- scribing to a democratic philos- ophy find themselves making rules and regulations that limit free enterprise and individual- ism, and creating bureaucracies to enforce the rules and regula- tions.” The bottom line for his remedy to pyramid problems is the use of common sense. He notes, however, that common sense has not been stressed “in modern times...no government has discovered yet how to sim- plify the Peter Pyramids of bureaucracy.” He urges that United States should be “the first to adopt the high resolve to move forward to a system that is more econom- ical, easier to operate, less prone to defects, and more effective.” The impact on Northeastern Pennsylvania is clear. To resolve the differences’ which exist between communities and organizations, common sense must prevail and the wide pro- liferation and scatteration of energies must be unified to avoid the plague of the Peter Pyramid. There must be actions under- taken to clarify or resolve long standing problems of economic growth, chronic unemployment, and many of the other issues which have risen to new heights in the second half of the twen- tieth century. Controlled free enterprise is a system which already exists in many parts of the nation with leverage being applied as a result of public- private sector partnerships which have encouraged eco- nomic development through the use of positive governmental incentives to cause private deci- sion making. An opportuntiy exists in the. size metropolitan area which Northeastern Penn- sylvania is to accomplish much of what Peter suggests needs to be accomplished. Northeastern Pennsylvania can move forward to effectively combat long standing issues by taking on new responsibilities from a positive viewpoint rather than a negative perspective. How this is achieved in the remainder of the 1980’s will set a tone for the rest of the twen- tieth century as the region begins to slowly, but surely move toward twentieth century life. (Howard Grossman, a Back Mountain resident, is the Execu- tive Director of the Economic Development Council of North- east Pennsylvania. His column appears periodically in The Dallas Post.) Letters By NANCY KOZEMCHAK Library Correspondent The Back Mountain Memorial Library has received delivery of 24 library chairs, oak wood with English oak finish to be used in the main reading room of the library. These chairs were ordered through the local sales representative of Roberts & Meck, Inc. of Harrisburg and are Jasper chairs manufactured by Jasper Chair Company of Jasper, Indiana. These chairs will be used in conjunction with the four new library tables in the reading room and complete still another segment of the on-going renova- tion process at the library. The library chairs have been donated by Thomas F. Heffer- nan, II and Nancy Heffernan Valtin in memory of their mother, Helen J. Heffernan. I attended the annual meeting and awards dinner of the United Rehabilitation Services, Inc. at the Shadowbrook in Tunkhan- nock with Mrs. Florence Crump. This particular dinner was dedicated to the late Rev. Alva Tompkins, who’s family grew up in the neighborhood with Mrs. Crump. Mrs. Crump has been close friends with this family all her life and I was happy to be able to attend the dedication dinner with her. The URS is a very worthwhile orga- nization and does so much good in our community, as witnessed by a slide program presented by the administrator, Dr. Stanley Irzinski. One of our very faithful bor- rowers returned an overdue book the other day saying she was sorry it was late but she had been sick and did not get the book returned on time. She teasingly tried a classic excuse and asked if she brought a note from her doctor could she be DAVID F. CONNER General Manager DOTTY MARTIN Executive Editor exempt from paying the fine. She then paid the fine and said she was more than happy to help support the library in her own small way. Heading the top of the Best Sellers list this week is the book, “It” by Stephen King. The poster of the month on our bulletin board features this best selling novel. This is the biggest and most ambitious book of the author’s career; he gives us not only his most towering epic of horror but a surprising re-illu- mination of the corridor where we pass from the bright myster- ies of childhood to those of maturity. The story revolves around Derry, a small city in Maine, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own home town. Only in Derry, the haunting is real. Seven desperate children begin to search for a creature of unspeakable evil in the drains beneath Derry; the present begins to rhyme dreadfully with the past and when they reunite, the wheels of fate lock together and roll them toward the ulti- mate terror. An exciting sus- pense-filled story. (Nancy Kozemchak is the assistant librarian at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. Her column appears regularly in The Dallas Post.) DEAR EDITOR: Previously, 1 supplied your media with the subject informa- tion as to during the week of November 16, 1986 I would be stocking 4,000 brook trout in Harveys Lake for the winter trout fishing program. Since that initial notice, I had learned that the Fish Commis- sion had a carry over of rain- bow trout at the Huntsdale Hatchery. I am very glad to announce that I have been bble to fit an extra stocking into my schedule and I have arranged to have 3,500 rainbows shipped to Harveys Lake during the same week of November 16, 1986. With two truck loads of trout coming in one week together with the 18,000 rainbows which I put in Harveys Lake on Septem- ber 5, 1986, local fishermen DEAR EDITOR: ~The Great Balloon Race has been put to rest for another year, however, I do want to thank you and The Dallas Post for excellent coverage and coop- eration in promoting the event throughout the community. While “Mother Nature’ was not as cooperative, we did have a successful launch and enthu- siastic response from the com- munity. It’s for that reason that we continue to make it an annual event. From all of us at Custom Management, our thanks and appreciation to The Post for helping us publicize this spirited event. DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS CUSTOM MANAGEMENT CORP., KINGSTON 366, Dallas, PA 18612. should hve a ball ice fishing at Harveys this winter. I would like to close by saying it has always been my pleasure to provide local sportsmen with bonus fish whenever I learn of the availability. Good luck. CLAUDE M. NEIFERT WATERWAYS CONSERVATION OFFICER PA. FISH COMMISSION Health Dept. supports Smokeout The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced recently it will again support and promote the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout observance, Nov. 20. According to Cathy Becker, director of the state Health Department’s Health Risk Reduction Program, more than 100,000 Americans will die of lung cancer this year. Local chapters of the Ameri- can Cancer Society have post- ers, pamphlets, buttons and directions for participating in the Great American Smokeout and the information is free. W
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers