Pennsylvania Mixed Bag: PF&BC helps Coast Guard at NFL Draft

Pittsburgh — The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission assisted the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in enforcing a security zone on local waterways during the National Football League Draft April 23-25 to ensure public safety, safeguard event participants and protect the maritime transportation system.

The regulated areas included the Ohio River, Allegheny River and the Monongahela River. During the enforcement period, all recreational and commercial vessel traffic was prohibited from entering the security zone without permission.

Perkiomen Stream Cleanup Sets a Record

Schwenksville, Pa. — Every April, the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy hosts a single-day watershed-wide event focused on removing litter, tires and other debris from waterways. This Montgomery County event brings together volunteers who work collaboratively to clean up streamside sites, parks and open spaces throughout the watershed.

Since its creation in 2004, the Perkiomen stream cleanup has grown to become the largest single-day stream cleanup in the state of Pennsylvania, with a record-breaking 2,052 volunteers participating in 2026.

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Volunteers Wanted May 9 at Tionesta Lake

Tionesta, Pa. — Want to get your hands dirty planting shrubs for wildlife and work beside like-minded volunteers for a couple of hours? The Upland Bird Hunt Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society is looking for volunteers for planting for wildlife at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Tionesta Lake.

The work will be done in Forest County on lands managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and should be completed by 4 p.m. The meeting spot will be the parking lot of the Mount Zion Lutheran Church at 2048 German Hill Road, Tionesta.

For more information or to register for tools, volunteers should email Garrett Baker at bakgar42@yahoo.com to ensure enough tools for volunteers.

Volunteers should wear boots and gloves, and bring safety glasses if you have them. Dress for the weather. This project will take place rain or shine.

PGC Wildlife Art Contest Underway

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is accepting works for its 2027 Working Together for Wildlife Art Contest, with entries due by July 31.

The 2027 featured category is Pennsylvania shorebirds. Qualifying submissions must include at least one of the following species: American golden-plover, black-bellied plover, buff-breasted sandpiper, dunlin, greater yellowlegs, killdeer, lesser yellowlegs, long-billed dowitcher, pectoral sandpiper, piping plover, red knot, ruddy turnstone, sanderling, semipalmated sandpiper, short-billed dowitcher spotted sandpiper, upland sandpiper, whimbrel, white-rumped sandpiper and willet.

Official rules about the contest are available on the contest page of the Game Commission’s website. Each artist must be a Pennsylvania resident.

For more information, contact the Game Commission at 1-833-742-9453.

Bird Dog Training Clinic Offered May 16

Johnsonburg, Pa. — Do you have a new (eight months old as of mid-May) bird dog puppy and want to get started on basic training? Or do you have a mostly trained dog and want to fine-tune a few actions?

The Ruffed Grouse Society Upland Bird Hunt Chapter will offer an individual, one-on-one, bird dog training clinic on Saturday, May 16, at the Rolfe Beagle Club in Johnsonburg.

Each dog handler who registers will receive two hours of one-on-one time with an experienced bird dog trainer. You must register your dog in advance so the proper training materials will be available at the Rolfe Beagle Club. 

For more information or to register, email Bethany Ford at bjmf989@gmail.com.

Bill for Electronic Deer Tagging Moves Ahead

Harrisburg — The House Game and Fisheries Committee passed legislation April 14 to allow hunters to electronically tag their big game harvest.

The committee approved House Bill 2363 to create modern tagging and reporting options of big game harvests like deer and turkey to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Sponsored by Robert Merski, a Democrat from Erie County, the memo for the bill reads, “While the tagging of a big game harvest is a fairly straightforward process, perhaps there is a faster, more convenient way to do it through the use of technology.”

The memo continues, “Given that the majority of people now carry a smartphone, it seems prudent that the tagging and reporting process be updated to accommodate current and future digital technologies as additional options for our sportsmen and women.”

The committee approved sending Merski’s bill to the full House.

No Feeding Deer Areas Set by PGC

Harrisburg — Game commissioners at their recent meeting approved the Game Commission’s executive director having the discretionary authority to establish targeted restrictions on feeding deer and other wild cervids in relation to chronic wasting disease.

In the past, areas with bans on feeding deer were determined by the disease management areas, but that may change. The boundary lines for the new no-feeding areas should be released this spring, according to Joshua Zimmerman, agency spokesman.