Conservation law and the history of wildlife protection in the region will be the focus of the next South Mountain Speakers Series lecture on October 24 at Shippensburg University.

Chad Eyler, chief of the Special Permits Enforcement Division of the Game Commission, will offer a free public lecture, "Crimes Against Nature: Conservation Law and the History of Wildlife Protection in the South Mountain Region," beginning at 7 p.m. at the Ceddia Union Building Multi-Purpose Room.

"From state hunting seasons to international bans on ivory, conservation law plays an important part in wildlife protection here in South Mountain and around the world," said Allen Dieterich-Ward, an associate professor of history at Shippensburg University and the chair of the South Mountain Partnership committee on the speaker series.

The Game Commission was established in 1895 as one of the Progressive-era reforms spearheaded by conservation leaders such as Joseph Rothrock, Gifford Pinchot and Mira Lloyd Dock. Eyler will explore the evolution of conservation law in the South Mountain region and the nation.

Sen. Richard Alloway (R-Adams) will be providing brief welcoming remarks. He is the Majority Chair of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee, which oversees the Game Commission and the Fish and Boat Commission.

After the lecture, Eyler will be joined for a panel discussion on contemporary conservation law issues by Rich Mislitsky, chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation, and Dr. Nathan Thomas, Shippensburg University assistant professor of biology.

This is the final lecture in the series for 2013. The series will return in 2014.

The South Mountain Speakers Series is envisioned as a revival of the talks given by Rothrock in the late 19th century as part of his work to preserve and restore Pennsylvania's forests and natural landscape.

The lecture is sponsored by Shippensburg University, Game Commission, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the South Mountain Partnership.

Sparked by DCNR's Conservation Landscape Initiative, the South Mountain Partnership is a group of citizens, businesses, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and government representatives in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties, working together to protect and enhance the landscape.

South Mountain is a 400,000-acre region that lies at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Some of the earlier lectures in the speaker series can be found on YouTube at.

10/14/2013