Trump is lifting restrictions on hunting in national parks, refuges and wilderness areas
MADISON, Wis. — President Donald Trump’s administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to...
As 2-hour barrier falls, marathon runners credit tech, training advances for faster finishing times
Despite being the top finisher at his first marathon in 2023, Will Loevner noticed ways he could shave seconds — even minutes — off his time. At the California International Marathon in Sacramento in December, the Indiana Township man dropped seven minutes from that initial marathon time in Cleveland, finishing...
Laurel Highlands stream remains ‘impaired’ with elevated lead levelsVideo
Months after a shooting range was deemed the culprit of lead contamination in a popular Laurel Ridge stream, high levels of the heavy metal still flow through the water despite ongoing remediation. Testing performed this month by the Mountain Watershed Association showed there were 336 micrograms of lead per liter...
Pennsylvania to expand hunter program as crop damage climbs from deerVideo
While the Pennsylvania Game Commission prepares to take its Certified Hunter Program statewide to combat agricultural losses, some veteran farmers say the move is “too little, too late” to save their fields from a skyrocketing deer population. The commission recently approved the expansion of the program, which was piloted last...
Game commission seeks entries for 2027 wildlife art contest
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking for artists’ best portraits of a Pennsylvania shorebird. The agency is seeking entries for its 2027 Working Together for Wildlife art contest. The featured category is shorebirds, and unlike in previous years, the 2027 contest is restricted to paintings. One or more shorebirds can...
Pa. Game Commission to vote on increasing number of Sundays in deer rifle season
The Pennsylvania Game Commission will vote Saturday on potential adjustments to the deer rifle season, which officials believe could bolster interest in hunting among youth and young adults. The game commission’s nine-member board met Friday in Dauphin County to discuss opening deer rifle season on Nov. 28, a Saturday, and...
Anglers gear up, hope for no rain on opening day of trout season
Avid trout fisherman Arnand Latour doesn’t mind taking off work to drive about 70 miles from his home in Glenshaw to Linn Run State Park east of Ligonier. “I like to go fly fishing. There are so many aspects to it. You need knowledge of insects, food sources and habitat”...
Pennsylvania deer season opener: Bill introduced for return to Monday tradition
Two state senators said Monday they introduced legislation to restore Pennsylvania’s deer firearms season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition they say the state wrongfully disrupted in shifting opening day to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2019. Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, and Sen. Lisa Boscola,...
Peregrine falcons to be protected during Tarentum Bridge construction project
Peregrine falcons that nest under the Tarentum Bridge will be protected as best they can during an upcoming, long-term construction project along the span. PennDOT is working with the state Game Commission to safeguard the nest — one of six in Allegheny County — when the $97.5 million rehab project...
Game commission advises Pennsylvanians to report sick, dead birds to help with avian flu trackingVideo
Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are asking bird watchers and hunters to report sick or dead birds they encounter as they continue to monitor avian influenza’s presence in the region. “Avian influenza can affect any bird, but we tend to see it more specifically in waterfowl, along with the family of...
Game commission releases ‘bonus’ pheasants across southwestern PennsylvaniaVideo
Five minutes after the Pennsylvania Game Commission released a couple hundred pheasants into the wild near Loyalhanna Creek on Thursday morning, the crack of the first gunshot echoed across the meadow. Each year, commission staff release “bonus” pheasants, left over from their annual breeding program. In anticipation of losing pheasants...
Pennsylvania deer hunting opener stays Saturday after Thanksgiving — ‘for now’
Pennsylvania hunting regulators cast a preliminary vote on keeping the Saturday after Thanksgiving as the opening day for the regular firearms season for white-tailed deer. A final vote is scheduled at the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners’ next quarterly meeting April 10-11. Commissioners meeting Saturday in Harrisburg listened to public...
Pa. Game Commission considers Saturday start before Thanksgiving for deer seasonVideo
For Mike Shipley, the Monday after Thanksgiving was a holiday tradition that died in 2019. That was the year the Pennsylvania Game Commission shifted its hunting schedule to start two days earlier, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, ending a decadeslong ritual of hunters heading into the woods the first Monday after...
Latrobe teacher, 18-time marathoner launches coaching business
Rachel Bankaci never considered herself an athlete in her youth. But with 18 marathons under her belt — and a 19th in the works — Bankaci has come a long way from her childhood days of watching track athletes compete in the Olympics. Now, Bankaci is a personal trainer and...
Got turkeys? The Pennsylvania Game Commission wants to know
Thanksgiving is long gone, but for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, it’s time to talk turkey — specifically, where they are and how many you see. The commission is making its annual request for public assistance in reporting the location of turkey flocks they see between now and March 15, as...
Cosmic chaos: Supermoon, meteor shower to grace Western Pa. skies Saturday
Two astronomical phenomena — a supermoon and a meteor shower — will collide in Western Pennsylvania skies Saturday. Supermoons occur between three and four times per year and meteor showers grace skies about six times annually, said Daniel Vanden Berk, director of Saint Vincent College’s Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium. But...
