Environmental Education Expo planned for Montour Preserve in Danville

February 4, 2025

An Environmental Education Expo is scheduled at the Montour Preserve in Danville this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s the second annual expo and is through the Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership with the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association and Montour Area Recreation Commission. Last year, the event drew more than 1,000 people and packed the education center with individuals from all over the Commonwealth. This year, the expo will have 28 different hands-on interactive booths in the works in coordination with local universities, non-profits, state agencies ...

Reflections in Nature: A look at what it was like to harvest ice in once upon a time

February 4, 2025

With the bitter cold weather we experienced in January, the popular toboggan slide at Eagles Mere has again been built. Our frigid temperatures during the month of January allowed the ice on the lake to be frozen enough for the toboggan slide. This is the first time in 11 years. The ...

FISHING FOR ANSWERS: Study analyzes blotchy bass syndrome in Commonwealth and its cause

January 28, 2025

During the Tuesday, Jan. 7 public meeting with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 7, the prevalence of blotchy bass syndrome within smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers was brought up. Blotchy bass syndrome is hyper-pigmented melanistic skin lesions, which was first documented in the 1980s in the Hudson River in New York, and was first seen in Pennsylvania in 1986. While it has been observed since 1986 in the Commonwealth, committee member Geoff Smith who gave the presentation regarding the syndrome noted that it was not something that came up ...

It’s the perfect time of year for some winter birding

January 28, 2025

It was cold and the wind was blowing hard, but there I was with two friends scanning the whitecaps of Rose Valley Lake, hoping for a fallout of waterfowl and vagrant species. Winter birding in these kinds of conditions can be challenging, but also rewarding. We didn’t find many birds on ...

Reflections in Nature: Princess pine lives stand out among the freshly fallen snow

January 28, 2025

Through the years, I have often been asked what is your favorite season to be in the woods? I always respond the fall when I watch the leaves changing colors and also hear the occasional flushing of a grouse from a stand of aspen trees. Later I question my answer when I think of spring, with ...

PFBC to recruit new class of Waterways Conservation Officer trainees

January 28, 2025

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is recruiting the 27th class of Waterways Conservation Officer trainees. The State Civil Service Commission will begin accepting applications now through February 3, 2025. The class of trainees will undergo a comprehensive training program at various training sites in the Commonwealth, including the PFBC’s H.R. Stackhouse School of Fishery Conservation and Watercraft Safety in Bellefonte, Centre County. Trainees will study law enforcement principles and practices, fish and boat laws, watercraft safety, environmental ...