| The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission today approved proceeding with plans
to improve operating and administrative efficiencies by re-organizing a portion of its staff.
The structural
reorganization, which addresses less than 1/3 of the agency’s staff positions, is designed to promote greater
effectiveness by enhancing lines of communication, increasing cooperation among units under the direction
of a common manager below the Executive Director level, and provides cohesiveness to a variety of inter-related
functions.
Highlights of the reorganization include creating the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Operations,
which will include a newly established Communications Division; creation of a Deputate of Administration,
Boating and Engineering, which will consist of a Bureau of Engineering and Property Services, Bureau
of Administration, and a newly created Bureau of Boating and Access; and the formal establishment of the Three Rivers
Ecological Research Center as a field office.
The reorganization plan now goes to the Governor’s Office of Administration
for review to ensure the administrative details are met and then on to the Governor’s Executive Board for final
approval.
Commissioner approval for the reorganization was required under a set of policies the Commission
adopted for itself at the July 16-17 summer quarterly meeting. The policy
manual outlines the governance
style and responsibility of the Commissioners and the Executive Director. Importantly, the Commissioners also modified
the agency’s
mission to emphasize resource protection and conservation. The new statement is “The mission of the Fish and
Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s
aquatic resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities.”
Last year’s creation of a Division
of Habitat Management as well as the recent establishment of the Three Rivers Ecological Research Center
all are indicative of the agency’s resolve to further address habitat issues. The new policy document, the first
of its kind for the Commission, also outlines details such as committee structures and Commissioner
obligations and calls for the agency to be proactive rather than reactive and strategic rather than administrative.
To meet these expectations, the Executive Director is required to develop an annual plan of work to be approved by
the Commissioners. | 
