Outdoors category, Page 9

The planned sale of Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion to a Colorado company with 37 ski resorts across 15 states and three countries has the potential to bring more tourists to the Laurel Highlands from many other locations through the buyer’s seasonal pass, a regional tourism official said. “We’ve...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A proposal that would allow military planes to fly training missions less than a quarter-mile above a section of...

With more than a week of snowmaking already underway, Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion will open its slopes Saturday. This year’s major upgrade is a new Doppelmayr Alpen Star chairlift that replaces the resort’s former Avalanche lift. The new lift will be able to carry an additional 600 people...

Business was brisk at Westmoreland County deer processing facilities Saturday as hunters rolled up with the fruits of their labor during the first day of Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season. Most of those who spoke with the Tribune-Review were glad this year’s season started on a Saturday and Sunday, instead of...

The Pennsylvania Wildlife Samaritans calendar featuring photos of wildlife throughout the state will benefit a Butler County wildlife rehabber and other nonprofits. The Wildlife Samaritans calendar is on sale for $26.99 ; 100% of the profits go to the featured wildlife rehabilitation nonprofits. One of the beneficiaries is Wildbird Recovery,...

For the first time, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will offer buck and doe hunting concurrently statewide for two weeks starting Saturday. It’s not even called the opening of buck season anymore, but the opening of firearms deer season. The regular firearms deer season begins Saturday and includes Sunday , one...

Pennsylvania’s state bird population is on an upward trend despite years of decline from West Nile virus. According to Lisa Williams, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s division chief of wildlife diversity and former state ruffed grouse biologist, the combination of shortened hunting seasons and aggressive habitat work have helped boost grouse...

Food providers at state parks across Pennsylvania are switching to compostable, paper, wooden or plant fiber alternatives for packaging and consumption, according to Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials. It’s part of an effort to reduce the amount of waste and plastics that are associated with concessions. New contracts...

November marks the 100th anniversary of an infamous event in the history of Great Lakes fishing: the date when sea lamprey, native to the Atlantic ocean, first moved into Lake Erie from the Welland Canal in Ontario. The parasitic invaders decimated Great Lakes fish populations, which reached rock-bottom in the...

After pulling a mammoth 34-inch walleye out of the Youghiogheny River in Connellsville on Oct. 28, Richard Nicholson had to be persuaded by his son not to fillet the fish but have it weighed to see if it was a state record. So the next morning, Nicholson, 62, put the...

The 9/11 National Memorial Trail, which will link to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, has advanced with action in New Jersey. N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy announced plans to spend $65 million to buy a 9-mile greenway, which will be a segment of the 9/11 Trail. The trail is...

Pennsylvania drivers beware: This is the season when the chances of hitting a deer increase, experts say, especially with the end of daylight saving time this weekend. The state ranks first in the nation for the highest number of animal-vehicle collisions that mostly involve deer, according to insurance company State...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports that turkey reproduction was well above average this past summer, translating to above average fall flock sizes that are worth pursuing. Pennsylvania’s fall turkey season kicks off Saturday in 19 of Pennsylvania’s 23 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) — and there’s reason for hunters to be...

Local foresters, outdoors enthusiasts, biologists and motorcycle riders all have their favorite places to see the fall panorama of leaves. Mountains, hillsides and river valleys are among the best places to view the fall leaf spectacle not just because of the volume of trees, but the variety. “The diversity of...

There wasn’t much peeping going on for the long-planned and sold-out Gateway Clipper fall leaf-peeping tour last weekend on the Allegheny River in Armstrong County. Although the boat ride was spectacular in its own right, “it was disappointing we could not control Mother Nature,” said Chris Ziegler, president of the...

Recent rain showers and high humidity have set the scene perfectly for a jump in mosquito activity in Western Pennsylvania. That’s why Karen Poh, a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University’s Department of Entomology, said she isn’t surprised there has been an uptick in mosquito activity in the region. Mosquitoes...

Signs warning visitors about a harmful algae bloom at the lower lake in Twin Lakes Park are expected to be taken down this week as the conditions dissipate, according to Westmoreland County Bureau of Parks and Recreation director Brandon Simpson. He said the signs were put up a couple weeks...

Digital hunting licenses now are available to Pennsylvania hunters, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The commission authorized hunters and trappers to carry digital licenses and permits, and the change to a new online license-issuing system, HuntFishPA, has brought the capability for digital licenses with it. But paper harvest tags...

The all-volunteer Mon/Yough Trail Council plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary with events Saturday along the Great Allegheny Passage. Volunteer event coordinator Ken Medved said a family-friendly bicycle ride “Yough n’ Roll” and Community Appreciation Day will kick off at the Boston access of the trail. The ride, a fundraiser...

There was a serious five-mile gap in the McKeesport to Munhall section of the Great Allegheny Passage a decade ago that was solved by an additional off-road trail and two “flyover” bridges over live railroad lines. To celebrate closing the gap in the GAP trail, the Steel Valley Trail Council...

As he was walking in a park near his home on Pittsburgh’s North Side late last month, Joe Dep saw a bug fly past him that immediately caught his attention. “I was in Allegheny Commons Park, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was something I didn’t...

As boaters and rafters gear up for a three-day weekend that some consider the unofficial end of summer, officials are urging caution for possible dangerous conditions on the region’s waterways. The conditions were created when remnants of Hurricane Ida pounded Western Pennsylvania this week, bringing several inches of rain and...

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners is coming to Westmoreland County next week. The agency announced the board will meet Sept. 10 and 11 at the agency’s Southwest Region Office off Route 711 in Fairfield Township. The meeting on Friday, Sept. 10 begins at 2 p.m. The purpose of this...

While hunting is open nearly year-round for a few species like groundhogs and coyotes, for most Pennsylvania hunters the first seasons of the July 1-June 30 hunting license year open on Sept. 1. Two common and abundant species — Canada geese and mourning doves — become legal game on Wednesday....

Pennsylvania fishermen like Russ Collins are worried about trees. He lives in Palmyra, Lebanon County, and is the vice president of Trout Unlimited’s southcentral region. He wonders whether a struggling tree species could ultimately endanger one of the top fishing grounds in the country, if not the world. He sees,...