Colangelo Retires as Head of Fish & Boat Commission
The legislative standoff might be over. Peter Colangelo, at age 66, has announced his retirement. As of June 9, Colangelo is no longer the executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Formerly with the Army Corps of Engineers, Colangelo headed the PFBC for the past eight years. This period has not been all happy times.
During his tenure, the agency has been plagued with problems. They’ve included declining license sales that have contributed to a funding shortage; periodic PCB contamination of hatchery-raised trout, still an unsolved mystery; a falling out with the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited; and effluent problems that caused the Big Spring Fish Culture Station to be closed and the trout production at several other hatcheries to be reduced.
The total trout stocking for 2002 was about 25% below that of 2001, and our area’s streams were hit particularly hard, with many removed from the stocking list.
Given all of the PFBC’s problems, the stocking decrease was necessary, but it seemed to have been carried out in a manner that irritated the maximum number of anglers. This included entire streams, such as Vanscoyoc Run, being removed from the stocking list and repeated news releases by the PFBC reminding us of the decrease. Was this a ploy to stimulate anglers into contacting their elected officials to ask for a license increase? If so, I didn’t like the smell of that maneuver, and the ploy only backfired.
While Colangelo has always had the support of the majority of the appointed commissioners, at times that support has only been by a slim margin. These internal conflicts limited Colangelo’s effectiveness.
For over a year, Colangelo and his Deputy Executive Director Dennis Guise had also been at the center of a political contest of sorts. Early in 2002, Sen. Edward Helfrick (R-Northumberland) and Rep. Bruce Smith (R-York), who respectively chair the Game and Fisheries committees in the Senate and House, met with Colangelo and Guise and asked them to resign. This occurred while the PFBC was beginning to mount a campaign for fishing license and trout stamp increases.
In a March, 2002, phone interview, Rep. Smith commented, “I have no plan to sponsor or support a fishing license increase at this time. It’s time for a change within the agency.” While some claimed legislative interference, others, including me, hoped that there would be a needed change at the top of the Fish Commission.
Right or wrong, Smith and Helfrick have been true to their words. No license increase legislation has left either committee during the past 18 months. Smith also introduced a resolution to study the idea of merging the Fish and Boat Commission with the Game Commission, or including both agencies under the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
As some termed it, the agency has been “held hostage” while Smith and Helfrick waited for a change at the top of the PFBC. That change, or at least half of it (Colangelo, but not Guise) has now occurred with Colangelo’s retirement. The commissioners decided not to appoint an interim leader and the agency is currently running with deputy Guise at the helm.
Smith has recently been quoted as saying that he now would support a license increase. The House committee merger study will announce its results in November. The PFBC has begun a nationwide search for a replacement for Colangelo, with plans to have the position filled before the year’s end.
While I hope for a successful search, I also fear that the cloud of uncertainty caused by the ongoing merger talk and studies could prevent good candidates from applying for the $89,000 per year position. Why take on a new position when that position just might be eliminated?
It’s no secret that I haven’t been happy with the leadership of the Fish and Boat Commission. In fairness to Colangelo, some good things have happened during his term. The agency moved from its cramped and, quite frankly, embarrassing headquarters into a new facility. Angler-commission workgroups were formed to study bass and trout management, and shad restoration has progressed. More recently, Trout Summit 2002 brought trout anglers together from all across the state.
Upon announcing his retirement, Colangelo said, “It has been a great honor to serve as Executive Director of this outstanding agency for nearly nine years.
“The Fish and Boat Commission needs better funding. In particular, there is a critical, unmet need for a stable, long-term source of funding for infrastructure that supports fishing and boating. Raising awareness of that issue has been one of my highest priorities the last several years. In parting, then,” Colangelo added, “it is my strong hope that the General Assembly and the administration take action sooner rather than later to ensure the future of fishing, boating and outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania.”
The commission, whose motto is “Resource First,” needs new and dynamic leadership that can see it past the license-trout stamp increase impasse. That same leadership, with the help of the governor and state legislature, should find and institute a funding source aside from license sales. Above all, the PFBC requires a leader who recognizes that protection and enhancement of the resource is the most important aspect of the agency’s charge. Hatcheries are important, but the commission needs to promote the “resource” as much more than buckets of hatchery trout.
Mark Nale can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com
