Outdoors category, Page 12
Pa. Game Commission approves 2-week deer season, bans rifles from turkey hunts
HARRIBURG — The Pennsylvania Game Commission has approved concurrent hunting for antlered and antlerless deer through the duration of the 2021-22 firearms deer season. LNP newspaper reports that commission members acknowledged at their spring meeting Saturday that much of the feedback received since the two-week deer season was proposed in...
Black bear spotted in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington, Overbrook neighborhoods
A black bear was spotted several times early Wednesday in Pittsburgh, authorities said. Officers in Zone 3, which covers a swath of Pittsburgh’s southern neighborhoods, responded to several sightings of a bear early Wednesday morning, said spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Cruz said officers spotted a bear on Groveland Street in Overbrook...
Support sought for purchase of Brilliant Line rail corridor for bike/ped trail from Aspinwall to Pittsburgh’s East End
Residents from Sharpsburg to Pittsburgh’s East End could be connected by a four-mile bike/pedestrian corridor that would provide access to fitness, recreation, shopping and dining in a project that’s expected to cost nearly $14 million. Allegheny Valley Railroad has agreed to sell the Brilliant Line to Aspinwall Riverfront Park. The...
Trout season gets off to a chilly start
For several of the folks casting lines the first day of trout season Saturday on the chilly shores of the lake at Northmoreland Park, the efficient work of a passing osprey accounted for much of the early morning excitement. “I think that osprey was the only one to catch a...
McCandless mulling organized archery hunt to help reduce town’s prolific deer population
McCandless council is mulling whether to move forward with the second phase of its program to curtail the deer population — an organized archery hunt. Following recommendations from state game officials and other experts in deer population management, council in March enacted a ban on residents purposely placing food out...
Pennsylvania Game Commission says 2020-21 deer harvest surpassed previous year
Pennsylvania hunters killed an estimated 435,180 deer during the 2020-21 hunting seasons, the state game commission announced Friday. That topped the previous license year’s harvest of 389,431 by about 12%, the agency reported. In the past 21 years, since 1993, the state’s hunters have harvested more than 400,000 deer in...
Last chance for skiers as Seven Springs plans to open for final run of season
Area skiers whose appetite for one last ski run were whetted by Thursday’s snowfall will get their chance this weekend at Seven Springs Mountain Resort, the area’s only area slope still open for the season. The Somerset County resort, which is closed weekdays, plans to reopen Saturday. Briefly. “Saturday is...
Scientists: Grizzlies expand turf but still need protection
BILLINGS, Mont. — Grizzly bears are slowly expanding the turf where they roam in parts of the northern Rocky Mountains but need continued protections, according to government scientists who concluded that no other areas of the country would be suitable for reintroducing the fearsome predators. The Fish and Wildlife Service...
Ligonier area dam removed; trout stream to be restored
A 1940s-era reservoir that once held close to 7 million gallons of drinking water for the Ligonier-Laughlintown areas is empty. A New Kensington company is removing the dam — a project that eventually will allow the stream that fed the reservoir to be rechanneled so it flows freely into a...
Great Allegheny Passage, named 20 years ago, continues to grow in popularity, importance
The task of naming the network of trails stretching from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., was brought up at an initial planning meeting in the mid-1990s. Ideas were thrown out. But naming something that didn’t yet exist took a backseat to the actual work, Linda McKenna Boxx said. “Let’s see if...
Trout season will look different as pandemic alters rules, regulations
As warmer weather moves into our region, many fishermen are looking forward to trout season, which begins in less than two weeks in Pennsylvania. Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, however, anglers can expect seasons, rules and regulations to be substantially different than in previous years, which means a little...
Cold snap kills several hundred fish in Unity’s Saint Vincent Lake, state says
Several hundred gizzard shad fish were found dead in Saint Vincent Lake this week, officials with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission confirmed. An officer from the Southwest Regional Law Enforcement office was notified Monday of the fish kill, according to Mike Parker, spokesman for the commission. Parker said the...
Photographer captures images of river otter in Monongahela River
Lisa Kaufman had her camera set to capture some migrating Northern shoveler ducks on the Monongahela River recently, in Pittsburgh’s Duck Hollow neighborhood, when a movement near the bank caught her eye. She pointed her camera and for 19 seconds got to see a rarity: a river otter. “This guy...
Pa. Game Commission says game-law violations dip slightly
Wildlife game law violations dipped slightly last fiscal year compared to the year before, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s recently released 2020 annual report. The Game Commission said it pursued 6,708 prosecutions for alleged game-law violations during the fiscal year that ended June 30, down 1.7% from the year...
Pennsylvania commission begins stocking fish ahead of trout season
Members of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, along with a few volunteers, braved the snowy weather this month as they began placing trout in streams and lakes across the state in preparation for the beginning of trout season April 3. Overall, 3.2 million trout will be stocked across 700...
ATV/snowmobile fever: Westmoreland, Allegheny lead Pennsylvania in registrations
As the U.S. Forest Service has opened up ATV and off-road vehicle permits for the Allegheny National Forest, the state reports that its licenses for these sports vehicles continue to trend upwards. The U.S. Forest Service offers permits for off-road vehicles to use federal forests, including the region’s closest federal...
Want to hike 35 miles on longest day of the year? Rachel Carson Challenge is on
While the pandemic caused a flurry of event cancellations last year, some outdoor outings are a “go” this summer, including the 24th Rachel Carson Trail Challenge. The 35-mile trek though rugged, hilly terrain only adds to the challenge of the event, which will start in Harrison Hills Park in Harrison...
Trout group to study Westmoreland County’s Linn Run
A fishing organization plans an extensive two-year study of the wild trout in Linn Run and the impacts on their habitat, from the stream’s headwaters atop Laurel Summit, down through Linn Run State Park in Cook Township to where it empties into Loyalhanna Creek in Rector. The Forbes Trail Chapter...
Johnstown Rotarian will hike the Appalachian Trail to help fight polio
When Owen Standley set out to lose a little weight, walking 2,200 miles along the Appalachian Trail was not the plan. But when Standley, 34, of Ferndale, Cambria County, joined his wife in a diet and exercise plan, it included a journaling assignment to list something he thought he could...
Pennsylvania offers hunting, fishing, boating licenses via new website
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the state Game Commission have teamed up to offer one website for residents to buy hunting and fishing licenses. HuntFishPA replaces the previous Pennsylvania Automatic Licensing System (PALS) platform known as The Outdoor Shop. It’s accessible on all mobile devices. Previously, licenses for...
Pennsylvania proposes more species for Sunday hunting in November
The Pennsylvania Game Commission proposed three Sundays in November when licensed hunters will be able to harvest permitted game, repeating the Sunday hunting schedule introduced last fall. New this year, the commission plans to expand the species that hunters can target on two of those dates. During its January meeting,...
Hikers told to forgo entire Appalachian Trail due to virus
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Hikers are being told by the agency that oversees the Appalachian Trail to postpone plans to cover the nearly 2,200-mile (3,540 kilometer) distance this year due to COVID-19. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy made the suggestion because it feels the pandemic makes long-distance hikes unsafe, the Asheville Citizen...
Pennsylvania sets early start, statewide schedule for trout season
Pennsylvania’s trout season will open earlier than usual this year, and statewide, on April 3. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Monday set the opening date and also approved a single statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day on March 27. As a result of the consolidation, separate regional mentored youth...
Pa. game commission proposes ‘unlimited’ antlerless tags for deer hunters statewide
Year-in and year-out, Pennsylvania’s deer hunters look forward to July, which marks the start of the antlerless deer license application process. This year, they may need to pay close attention to the process, especially if they apply for more than one or two permits, because the state is considering revamping...
Beat the winter blues with wildlife and Westmoreland’s beautiful views
The winter of 2021 is shaping up to look much like the spring, summer and fall of 2020 — at least when it comes to most forms of in-person socializing. But one place that has remained safe for activity throughout the pandemic has been the great outdoors, and that certainly...
