Mentored Youth Trout Day
For the upcoming 2021 trout season, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) will operate under a consolidated statewide schedule for all counties. Under this revised plan, a single Statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day will occur on Saturday, March 27, and a single Statewide Opening Day of trout season will take place on Saturday, April 3. As a result, separate regional mentored youth and opening days will not occur.
Youth anglers must obtain a Mentored Youth Permit or a Voluntary Youth Fishing License from the Commission and be accompanied by a licensed adult angler to participate in the Mentored Youth Day. The Mentored Youth Permit is free. The Voluntary Youth License is $2.97 ($1 cost + $1 issuing agent fee + $0.97 PALS transaction fee). The PFBC will honor all Voluntary Youth Fishing Licenses purchased in 2020 for mentored youth fishing opportunities during the 2021 season.
Buy a fishing license online, or in person by visiting a license issuing agent at more than 700 locations throughout Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
DCNR To Open Additional State Campsites for the First Day of Trout Season
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has announced that campsites will be available at an additional 16 state parks to accommodate fishing enthusiasts who want to stay overnight on April 2 for the statewide trout opener the following day. A total of 34 parks throughout the state will provide camping at this time. Anglers will have more than 2,300 campsites from which to choose for the season opener on April 3.
Information on the status of DCNR’s other facilities and resources is available on the agency’s website.
Spotted Lanternfly Alert
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has recently added eight additional counties to the Spotted Lanternfly quarantine. A county is placed under quarantine when evidence of a reproducing population of spotted lanternflies, such as an egg mass, is found by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. A January 2020 Penn State study found the bug is costing the Pennsylvania economy about $50 million and eliminating nearly 500 jobs each year.
In the fight against the Spotted Lanternfly, Pennsylvania is “Lucky” to have a nose that can detect Spotted Lanternfly eggs. Lucky, a female German Shepherd, went through 320 hours of training with the Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center, graduated, and joined the Department of Agriculture in November with her handler, Shane Phillips. Lucky is the first dog in the entire nation to learn to detect the Spotted Lanternfly.
Sign up for the e-newsletter, The Spotted Lanternflyer, for the latest information and updates on fighting this harmful, invasive pest.
PH&MC Unveils New Markers
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission recently approved 23 New State Historical Markers. The new markers, selected from 39 applications, will be added to the nearly 2,300 familiar blue signs with gold lettering along roads throughout Pennsylvania.
Since 1946, PHMC’s Historical Markers have chronicled the people, places and events that have affected the lives of Pennsylvanians over the centuries. The signs feature subjects such as Native Americans and early settlers, government and politics, athletes, entertainers, artists, struggles for freedom and equality, factories and businesses, and a multitude of other noteworthy topics.
Nominations for Pennsylvania Historical Markers may be submitted by any individual or organization and are evaluated by a panel of independent experts from across the state and approved by the agency’s commissioners.
Women’s History Month
March is Women’s History Month, which is set aside to commemorate and encourage the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
National Women’s History Month traces its roots to March 8, 1857, when women from various New York City factories staged a protest over poor working conditions. The first Women’s Day celebration in the United States was in 1909, also in New York City. More than seven decades later, Congress, in 1981, established National Women’s History Week to be commemorated annually the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month, and every year since has passed a resolution (and the president has issued a proclamation) designating March Women’s History Month.
Information and resources for women can be found at the Pennsylvania Commission for Women, which was created by Executive Order and consists of volunteer members. The Commission is responsible for advising the Governor on policies and legislation that impact women; supporting economic and civic opportunities for women; encouraging mentoring programs for girls and young women; identifying programs and opportunities for the benefit and advancement of women; and serving as a resource center for Pennsylvania women.
Game Commission’s Wildlife on Wifi
The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Wildlife on WiFi (WoW), the virtual learning program launched in April 2020 to provide educational services during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and state school closures, has become a successful, permanent wildlife education program.
WoW provides educators, students, parents and high-risk health communities, as well as general audiences, with home-based conservation and wildlife science education activities and lessons, virtual field trips and events, and social media games. The program has registered more than 75,000 engagements including 1,625 Pennsylvania students and conservation-minded residents who have participated in a WoW virtual lesson. Recently, the program was named the recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Environmental Education Program Award by the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators.
The program continues the Commission’s popular live webcams including “From Under the Deck—Live Bear Cam 2021” from Monroe County and the “Bald Eagle Cam” from Hanover.