New Fish and Boat Commission president focused on fishing diversity, waterway needs

The new board president of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission appreciates the diversity of fishing in the commonwealth as the agency takes on the challenges of preserving natural resources.

William “Bill” Gibney, 63, of Honesdale, has served the 7th District of Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties for the past four years. He was elected president July 24 by his fellow commissioners.

“It’s a privilege," he said about the volunteer board seat.

Gibney said he appreciates the confidence of the board members and the outgoing president, BJ Small. “He was one of the first people to welcome me to the agency. BJ did a great job with his leadership,” Gibney said. “That’s an important part of my goal is continuity of what we’re doing with the other commissioners and our staff, keeping the initiatives in the forefront and moving forward.”

Small, from District 6 in southcentral Pennsylvania, congratulated Gibney as well as Dan Pastore, of Erie County, the new vice president.

“Going out, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be in this seat," Small said. "Being a commissioner is a learning process, it’s a continuing education. And to be able to see that and experience it from this seat is really kind of special because you come to appreciate even more what the staff does day in and day out and dealing with some of the tough, the intricate and simple processes."

From teaching to volunteering

Gibney retired after more than 33 years as a physics and biology teacher at Wayne Highlands School District in Honesdale. He also taught biology, physics and astronomy as an adjunct faculty for several colleges and universities.

Shortly after he retired, he found out about the opening to serve as the district commissioner for the Fish and Boat Commission. "I wasn’t ready to just stop doing anything and I applied. Quite frankly, I didn’t expect I would be appointed.”

He joined the board about the time Tim Schaeffer, executive director of the agency, was hired. “Tim’s enthusiasm and attitude is contagious,” Gibney said, adding he was able to see what the staff and board was doing in the waterways.

“Seeing how professional and talented our staff was has been quite rewarding,” Gibney said.

The agency has been improving spillways and breasts of lakes across the state. “In my district alone, there are five high-hazard dams that were breached. In early 2019, places that I fished as a kid were gone and have yet to come back, and that was a huge concern of mine.”

Places where he would ride his bike to for fishing were now swamps.

“I want to see that returned for our youngsters, for everybody, anglers and boaters,” he said.

Children’s Lake in Cumberland County started to be refilled July 28 after a new dam, spillway and boat launch were built.

Improvements underway at White Oak Pond, Miller Pond, Bellmont Lake and Lower Woods Pond, in Wayne County, are examples of the waterways in Gibney's region that are getting new leases on life. There are 31 lakes across the state that are in the process of receiving upgrades.

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Gibney said there also have been improvements happening at hatcheries and with staffing. “We’ve done a lot of those great things in the last couple of years. It’s really exciting. It’s the entire board of commissioners and Tim (Schaeffer) and the rest of the agency working together.”

What the commission does

The agency is responsible for raising and releasing a variety of fish species across the state including, but not limited to, walleye, catfish, trout, and muskellunge. “We even raise mussels because some of those are struggling,” Gibney said.

The agency is focusing on conservation efforts to help protect aquatic resources including during warmer summers and winters with less snow. “There’s such a difference from when I grew up. We don’t get the winters ― we don’t get the snowpack, we don’t have the cold water,” he explained. “I think one of the major focus areas of the agency, likely for the next decade, is habitat.”

In addition to a changing climate and human development, he said, “The groundwater for cooling trout streams just isn’t there like it used to be.”

Regarding the diversity of fishing in Pennsylvania, he said, “It’s outstanding,” noting there are more than trout swimming in the streams and lakes.

“What do you want to fish for?" he said. "We got muskies, we got walleyes, we got smallmouth, largemouth, gigantic catfish and black crappie. Pennsylvania is really the place to come. We can entertain all of your preferences be it spincasting, fly fishing, bow fishing is becoming more and more popular.”

He also added that, with the right weather conditions, the ice fishing is excellent as well. “We have to realize what we have here right in our back yards.”

He points out you can go fishing for wild trout in central Pennsylvania in places like Penns Creek and the Delaware River and go for large stripers in places like the Raystown Lake and Lake Wallenpaupack. “We got everything you want.

Gibney prefers fly fishing for trout and has done a lot of bass fishing. He also ties his own flies.

“Fly fishing is addictive, it really got me,” he said. In addition to trout, he likes to catch salmon and has fished as far away as New Brunswick. “I traveled quite extensively through the United States and even parts of Canada for trout. There’s just something, I don’t know; it’s a challenge for me,” he said.

The sport is an escape for him. “When I’m fly casting, I can’t think about anything else, you really have to concentrate or you’ll end up with your line in the trees.”

Locally, he said the west branch of the Delaware River and Lackawaxen River “provide some ideal trout opportunities for me.”

He also likes to go to Erie in the fall and winter to catch steelhead.

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Service in three other agencies

Gibney served as a Pennsylvania Game Commission deputy wildlife conservation officer for 13 years and as a state park ranger for nine years at the Tobyhanna, Gouldsboro, Pocono Park Complex.

“When I was a deputy game protector I spent an awful lot of time working Fish and Boat code regulations," he said. "In fact, I believe I was the very first deputy game protector to go through the Fish Commission’s deputy training school. They invited me to attend because I was doing so much work for the Fish and Boat.”

In addition, he went through the Department of Environmental Protection’s law enforcement training program. “I’ve been through all three agencies’ training schools for a deputy.”

Gibney has enjoyed volunteering with the different state agencies over the years and looks forward to leading the Fish and Boat Commission’s board. “From my point of view, you only get so many years to make things better, that’s my philosophy.”

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: PA Fish and Boat Commission board elects William Gibney as president