HARRISBURG — A proposal that would have banned hiking and other nonhunting activities on state game lands for nearly a third of the year is on hold. The bill would impact more than 10,000 acres in Butler County.

The proposed Pennsylvania Game Commission rule would ban nonhunting activities on game lands during the spring and fall hunting seasons, which is roughly 130 days. On Sundays, these activities would be permitted because hunting is prohibited.

Additionally, a free permit is proposed for anyone who wants to use game lands for purposes other than hunting and trapping, such as hiking. Anyone who does not have a hunting or furtaking license would have to get the permit to hike outside of the seasons.

The commission’s board said Wednesday it removed the proposal from its Tuesday meeting agenda after receiving hundreds of public comments. Board President Robert Schlemmer said commissioners want more time to consult with hunters, conservationists and elected officials before considering the measure.

The spring hunting season takes place from the second Saturday in April through Memorial Day and the fall hunting season takes place from last Saturday in September until the third Saturday of January. Any nonhunting or trapping activity would not be permitted during those times under this proposal.

Butler County has 10,252 acres of game lands, all in the northeastern part of the county. Parts of Game Lands 95, 164 and 304 are in Cherry, Clearfield, Concord, Donegal, Oakland, Parker, Summit, Venango and Washington townships.

The North Country Trail, which is 4,600 miles long and runs from North Dakota to New York, passes through the county, including state Game Lands 95.

Ron Rice, president of the Butler County chapter of the North Country Trail Association, said he is not in favor of banning hiking during hunting seasons.

He prefers the idea of having all nonhunters wear blaze orange clothing and a blaze orange hat just like hunters while on game lands, which is already required.

“As long as hikers have free access to our trails in the game lands at all times, I see nothing wrong with having to wear a blaze orange hat and a vest totaling at least 250 square inches at all times,” Rice said in an e-mail. He said a good compromise might be banning large groups of hikers during hunting season, and having hike leaders plan large group hikes around seasons.

“If the Pa. Game Commission were to post these rules at all of their parking lots in the game lands with all the dates when group hiking was banned we would all know what they were and could get the word out,” Rice said.

He said he would be against the idea of a “safety zone” around the trail in the game lands. Officially, a safety zone has to encompass 150 yards from an occupied building, or in this case, the trail. This would mean the zone would be 150 yards on both sides of the trail. With 13 miles of the North Country Trail in the county on game lands, Rice said this would be 1,418 acres that hunters would not be allowed to use. Since game lands were bought with hunting license fees and taxes on hunting equipment, Rice said he would be against such a provision.