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Palone successfully handled task as big as all outdoors
When Roxane Palone was sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Board of Commissioners on Jan. 17, 2001, little did she know what she was getting herself into or the memorable experiences she would have and friends she would make.
The Board of Commissioners - comprised of eight unpaid regional board members appointed by the governor - establishes policy for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. In that capacity, they often find themselves about as popular as rain at a beach.
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"I think there were people within the agency and outside of the agency that never quite accepted me 100 percent," said Palone, who saw her eight-year term on the commission end in May.
"It's a very male-dominated field. I was never quite good enough in some people's minds. But, I think over the years I proved that I belonged there."
A lifelong hunter and angler, Palone's qualifications to serve on the board were beyond reproach. When she began her term with the commission, she was a rural development specialist for the Economic Action Programs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's a position she retired from in 2005. She also holds a masters degree in forest management from West Virginia University and a bachelor's degree in biology from Glenville State College.
Now, however, she holds a different position.
"I learned a lot over the years, but it's been nice not to have the added stress because I took my work very seriously," Palone said. "I've been doing a little writing and some work for Wildlife for Everyone, and I have my garden to tend to and hunting and fishing. I've also been doing a lot of flying with (husband) Vince. He has his pilot's license, so we've been going up quite a bit. I got a lot of nice letters from people thanking me for my service. It was really nice."
It's certainly a change of pace from the constant work that was involved with her role as a commissioner. In addition to quarterly meetings - which are usually held in Harrisburg - Palone also did a lot of traveling across the state to observe agency employees during various projects and studies.
"I had several really fun adventures," Palone said. "The best was probably when we were working on the fawn mortality study up in Penns Valley. I went out with a team and we captured 12 newborn fawns, which was a record, and each one was a miracle from God. That was really amazing."
On another occasion, while accompanying a group that included commission Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist Joe Kosack on a bird study on an island in the Susquehanna River, Palone found herself in the water.
"We were going by canoe back to Fort Hunter and Joe hit a big log," Palone said. "I went out the front of the canoe and it sunk. I had a camera with me and it went into the water as well. It was April and the water was still very cold."
But those kind of excursions were just part of what Palone did with the commission.
More important were the changes she helped enact over the past eight years.
"I think we really expanded the hunting opportunities in my time on the commission, particularly for youth hunters," Palone said. "We have a lot of youth hunting days that we didn't have before. We also expanded the deer seasons, so that it wasn't just two weeks of buck hunting and one or two days of doe hunting."
During Palone's time on the commission, a number of other hunting opportunities for big game animals were expanded as well, including elk, bobcats, deer and bear.
"I'm proud of the things we did while I was on the commission," Palone said. "Deer management was always the biggest debate and I always tried to make an informed decision. A few people in the General Assembly caused a lot of problems for the commission over deer management, but I always tried to do what was best for the herd."
Thank you Roxane : 7/6/2009
Just wanted to say thanks Roxane for a job well done. I never had a problem with a woman on the board, especially with your qualifications. You were better than some of the male members that served over time.
