Pa. Game Commission bans hunting in Frein search area

CANADENSIS, Pa. - Hunting, trapping, and hiking have been banned in the area where police are searching for Eric Frein.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced Wednesday that no hunting will be permitted in seven townships in Monroe and Pike Counties as police and federal agents continue to scour the Poconos woods for the fugitive who allegedly killed one state trooper and wounded another. Portions of the Delaware State Forest near the manhunt have been closed to hikers, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Wednesday.

Officials from both departments said the decision was made to protect hikers and hunters.

Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough cited the discovery of two homemade pipe bombs police said they discovered this week in the woods where they say Frein is hiding. Investigators believe Frein left the explosives behind as he hastily tried to evade capture.

"While we realize this temporary closure might disappoint some of the hunters and trappers it affects, we're certain, too, they understand the gravity of the situation, as well as the danger in allowing the seasons to continue as scheduled, given this new information," Hough said in a statement.

Bow hunting for deer opens Saturday. Trapping season begins at the end of the month, and firearm deer hunting begins Dec. 1.

Later Wednesday, two state troopers were injured and transported from the search area by helicopter, police said.

Their injuries were not life-threatening, according to Trooper Connie Devens, who said the accident was not a shooting but declined to release further information. The incident did not halt the search for Frein.

The hunting ban applies to Price, Barrett, and Paradise Townships in Monroe County, and Blooming Grove, Porter, Lehman and Greene Townships in Pike County.

The seven townships are among 112 in a region where the Game Commission had sold permits to more than 9,000 hunters who wanted to hunt deer with bows or firearms, said spokesman Travis Lau.

The affected area is already blanketed with hundreds of troopers, federal agents, and other officers assisting in the manhunt for Frein. The Game Commission has no plans to send additional personnel to the Poconos to enforce the ban, according to Lau.

"We are hoping that we will see compliance," he said. "We don't see any reason why we won't."

Lau acknowledged that the ban impacts a region where hunting is popular, and where many people purchase property or rent cabins just for the season.

"They're avid hunters - they come here for that reason, or they live here," said Roger Smith, owner of Smitty's Sporting Goods in Canadensis. And for some, he said, hunting isn't just sport. "This is backwoods country, too. A couple of years back, [if] people killed a couple deer - that's meat for the whole winter."

Smith said firearm deer hunting is more popular than bow hunting, and that season will not begin for two more months.

"Plenty of good hunting and trapping opportunities remain outside of the temporarily closed area, and we need hunters to readily adjust their plans to help bring resolution to this case and see that justice is served," Hough said.

Under cloudy skies Wednesday, police continued to search the dense woods for Frein, who is charged with killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass at the barracks in Blooming Grove on Sept. 12.

Police believe the 31-year-old self-taught "survivalist" is still in a roughly five-square-mile area near his parents' Canadensis home, about 20 miles from the scene of the shootings. Though investigators have spotted Frein several times, he has evaded capture for more than two weeks.

610-313-8116 @LMcCrystal