🦌Hunting is expressly permitted on 1,766 acres of Northampton County parkland under a contract with the Pennsylvania Game Commission approved by the county council.

Bryan Cope, county parks and recreation superintendent, clarified that the county has permitted hunting on all but 122 acres of the land for years, if not decades for some of the tracts.

The agreement, he explained, is aimed at securing Game Commission wildlife habitat management assistance for the properties.

Hunting access is a secondary goal of the contract, Cope told lehighvalleylive.com in an email. Previously, he said, “The County was ineligible for funding from PA Game Commission assistance in large scale native restoration projects such as meadows, reforestation and different habitat improvement areas.”

The council on Thursday night held a public hearing without discussion before voting 9-0 to approve the contract and send it to county Executive Lamont McClure for his signature and the Game Commission for approval.

The contact is expected to finalized in coming months, in time for the fall 2024 hunting seasons. Some of the land, near more populated portions of Northampton County, is marked as archery only but would be open for all game during the various archery seasons, Cope said.

Cope said he anticipates adding information on the Game Commission agreement to the county website at norcopa.gov around July or August, once the contract is finalized.

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/out...outputType=amp