Developed in 1999 with assistance from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University's Extension Service, the LINK Program attempts to direct hunters to the owners of properties who need assistance. Although its principal aim is to help landowners who are experiencing intolerable property damage from deer, LINK also serves as a vehicle to help landowners troubled by any game animal or furbearer that may be hunted or trapped, including coyotes.
LINK relies on willing hunters and trappers to help landowners with wildlife problems.
Additionally, the program serves as a means to promote wise and practical use of our wildlife natural resource. It's far better to allow license-buying hunters and trappers to harvest and make wise use of game and furbearers in season than to remove them as nuisance wildlife, which often is not consumed or utilized. And in a way, they're right. This program is a communications link between sportsmen and property owners with wildlife problems. Landowners who sign up for the program, however, must recognize that the attractiveness of their property to hunters and trappers will largely determine whether they draw the attention from sportsmen and sportswomen looking for places to hunt.