What’s the best feature of a state park? Is it the peace and quiet? Is it the adventure? The scenery? How can parks be an even-cooler place to hang out? More amenities? Less? The public has the opportunity to have a say in the future of state parks both locally and statewide. A ...

Recently, the ANF Chapter of the North Country Trail Association completed their last group trail work day of 2019. Over the last year, 184 volunteers participated in 18 trail work days. Throughout the year, 40 trail adopters diligently checked and made improvements on their own trail ...

Kirk Johnson, executive director for the Warren-based non-profit organization Friends of Allegheny Wilderness, recently attended the annual National Wilderness Workshop, hosted by the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and Society for Wilderness Stewardship, for the first time since 2012. ...

Likely the situation with GPS is similar to that of high tech sonar when Lake Erie walleye fishing got very popular in 1980, a lot more people own them than know how to use them. Especially those among us who are not tech-heads, the hicks and the old. I am eminently qualified to write on this ...

Pennsylvania has covered a third of the distance needed to set a state record black-bear harvest. Through an early archery bear season in selected Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), two new October firearms bear seasons and the first week of a two-week statewide archery bear season, ...

Passing the state House of Representatives Oct. 29 by a 144-54 vote, legislation that would provide expanded Sunday hunting opportunities in Pennsylvania appears likely to become law soon. But the Pennsylvania Game Commission wants hunters to know Senate Bill 147 has not been passed in final ...

Warren City Council met on Monday night to discuss the budget and a potential tax increase. The focus of the conversation though was much simpler - fire trucks. And how to pay for the replacement of the city’s tower and engine apparatus. And council appears to have found a way to ...

Leaves were coming down. Trees were going up. City of Warren crews began the planting of 53 street trees on Thursday. Typically, the seasonal planting includes a number of trees going into parks, but this fall planting is exclusively street trees. City officials identified locations of ...

The Hill & Dale Garden Club meeting was held on October 23 at the Wiltsie Community Church. Ruth welcomed everyone and led us in the Pledge to the Flag. She thanked the church for having us and, as Veteran’s Day is November 11th, remembered anyone who has served in the military. ...

City of Warren planning officials continue to discuss fence and shrub height regulations. The Planning Commission met for the first time since June when the issue was last discussed. At issue are height restrictions on fences and shrubs on corner lot properties within the city. City ...

A month later than anticipated, but better late than never. Insufficient rain to allow steelhead into the Lake Erie tributaries had them stacked off the creek mouths until Wednesday, October 23, when finally we had enough rain to open the creeks. The East Side creeks were blown out that day, ...

On Wednesday, Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said he was confident the Department of Environmental Protection would respond to questions regarding a pending permit renewal. On Thursday, DEP responded with a statement, the announcement of a forthcoming new comment period, and the ...

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has taken steps toward removing the display requirement for a fishing licenses. The board met on Monday and, according to a statement, “took steps towards replacing a long-standing regulation that requires anglers to display their fishing license ...

A permit reauthorization for treated coal ash disposal at the Warren Generating Station site dominated discussion at Wednesday’s Warren County Commissioners meeting. And the commissioners are pushing for a public hearing on the matter. The permit application was filed through the ...

Several members of the community spoke to the commissioners about the permit application regarding the Warren Generating Station. John Able raised the alarm about oversight of the discharge into the Allegheny River changing DEP programs. He alleged that will change what’s processed, ...

The Trails at Jakes Rocks have made it to the big time. The mountain bike trail system was recently ranked at the top of VisitPA’s list of ‘Heart-Pumping Mountain Bike Trails.’ VisitPA is the official tourism website of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic ...

Leaves in the region continue to be near peak fall foliage. DCNR Cornplanter District Forester Cecile Stelter discussed leaf colors with the City of Warren Street Landscape Committee on Tuesday. Stelter said that the area has peaked in color “or is in the middle of that.” She said the ...

My children and their friends spotted some strange insects at Audubon the other day. They were dark steely blue, shining in the grass. Their bulbous round abdomens looked awkward compared to their skinny heads and thoraxes. These beetles crawled in an ungainly fashion through the grass, looking ...

With a rare mosquito-transmitted virus documented in Pennsylvania this year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is encouraging hunters and others who spend time outdoors to take precautions against mosquito bites and report to the agency any dead or strange-acting wild animals they believe to ...

After two years of public input, the Penn’s Parks for All preliminary report has been released. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources released the report, part of a strategic planning process, on Friday. “Thousands commented on what they like, dislike, and ...