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DUPONT — Following a controversial Senate confirmation vote on his appointment to the Pennsylvania Game Commission just over two weeks ago, Stanley Knick Jr. was sworn in to the post Thursday at the Dupont Municipal Building.
District Judge Alexandra Kokura-Kravitz administered the oath of office to Knick, who serves as Dupont Borough Council president and now also represents the Northeast Region on the commission.
The Senate voted 34-15 to have Knick Jr., who was nominated by Gov. Tom Wolf, fill the seat that had been vacant nearly two years.
Asked about his goals for the commission following Thursday’s ceremony, Knick said he doesn’t have an agenda. “I want to maintain a wildlife in our gamelands and, if anything, I would like to get more youth involved in the outdoors. I think we’re going to have to start reaching out to them when we have some seminars,” he said.
He said he has not yet come up with any ideas to help solve the commission’s financial issues. “It’s a learning experience. I have to get in there and see everything. For me to comment on something like that before I knew everything, I don’t think would be proper.”
Asked what he thinks makes the Northeast Region unique, Knick said he believes a lot of small towns here have a lot of hunters.
“Everybody was brought up in the outdoors and everybody just loves it. It doesn’t matter if they’re hunting, fishing, picking blueberries — in these small communities, it’s all they want to do. Every (amount of) spare time they have, they go out, just like I did … especially as a child.”
Knick said he likes hunting deer and, after deer season, enjoys hunting squirrels.
State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said he was thrilled to attend the ceremony given that he was one of the legislators who recommended Knick to Wolf for appointment to the commission. He said there are two things that will make him a great game commissioner.
“First, he’s totally committed to the community. And secondly, he’s totally committed to the world of sportsmen, to game issues. He’s right out of central casting for someone who should serve on this board,” Carroll said.
Sen. John Blake, D-Moosic, said he attended the ceremony because he also had recommended to Wolf that he nominate Knick.
“The reality of it is that Stanley has a passion for public service,” Blake said. “When he came to ask for some consideration for this post, he said, ‘I have no agenda. I just really deeply care for this commonwealth and for the outdoors. I’ve been hunting and fishing for over 45 years and I’d like to take that experience and see if I can add value.’”
“He just wants to learn and to serve, and he’ll seek counsel where he needs it,” Blake said. “He’ll gravitate toward good people and he’ll use good judgment as a member of the commission.”
Senators who voted against Knick, including Lisa Baker, of Lehman Township, said they did so because they were unfamiliar with his background and philosophies, and Knick did not contact them to seek their support or offer to answer any questions they might have.
“I think once they meet me, we’ll get along and figure out where I went wrong or what happened,” Knick said Thursday. “I can work with anybody and I’m willing to work with anybody.”
Knick is looking forward to attending the commission’s next quarterly meeting Sept. 25 and 26 at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area’s Visitor Center in Lancaster County, but he’s diving into game-related activities even before that.
He’ll be in Elk County on Aug. 19 and 20 for Elk Expo 2017 and in Harrisburg Aug. 21 for his orientation to the commission. He’ll also try to make a land management meeting Aug. 23.
“I didn’t come here as a part-timer,” Knick said. “I came here to do what I can do, and do my best.”
