Game commission hailed by TU chapter

The Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited has presented the Pennsylvania Game Commission its Coldwater Conservationist of the Year Award in recognition of the agency’s partnership to fix acid mine discharge in local watersheds.

The award was made at the chapter’s annual banquet in Uniontown, Fayette County.

In 2006, the national Trout Unlimited had honored the Chestnut Ridge Chapter with the Silver Trout Award as a result of the partnership.

The Silver Trout Award recognizes nationally significant efforts by local chapters in coldwater conservation. Only one other TU chapter achieved a higher rating than Chestnut Ridge during 2006.

Hunsinger claimstrophy at state shoot

Rick Hunsinger of Upper Yoder Township won the freestyle class in the Penn-sylvania state archery shoot March 31 and April 1 in Harrisburg with a 586 each day.

More than 500 competitors participated in the shoot.

Survey launched onJuniata, Susquehanna

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has begun a large-scale survey to explore fishing use and angler experiences on 130 miles of the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers.

The survey is designed to measure catch, harvest, economic expenditures and angler opinions associated with sections of the two rivers from April through October. The Susquehanna River survey reaching from Sunbury to near the Maryland border, while the Juniata survey will extend from Port Royal to the mouth near Duncannon.

In addition to on-the-water interviews, airplane fly-overs will be conducted three times a week to count anglers and boaters who use the river.

Lawmakers approve wind-power measure

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Lawmakers agreed Friday on a measure that will make it easier to build large wind power projects in Maryland, after the Senate voted 40-6 to agree to a similar bill passed in the House with amendments.

The measure would allow developers to build wind farms that generate electricity for the wholesale market by eliminating environmental reviews looking at the potential impact on wildlife, endangered species and forest fragmentation that currently are part of the Public Service Commission’s approval process.

That part of the bill brought a protest from the Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation, which contended the measures would reduce environmental rights and reverse the concept of public involvement in the power-plant planning process.

Bird watchers setrecord during count

Participants in the Great Backyard Bird Count tallied more than 11 million birds across the United States and Canada during four days in February, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports.

They recorded 616 species and submitted more than 80,000 checklists, 33 percent more than the previous high of 61,000 checklists in 2000. The joint project of the Cornell Lab and National Audubon Society asked people of all ages and levels of experience to report their sightings for conservation.

“There has never been a more detailed snapshot of continental bird distribution in history,” said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab. “It used to take scientists years to gather large-scale information about bird population and distribution and the GBBC does it in just four days each year, thanks to a community of birders reporting their counts online.”

American Robins topped the list as the most numerous species counted, with more than two million reported from 60 states and provinces. The count included a flock of 750,000 robins roosting in a mangrove forest in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Full results of the count are available online at www.birdcount.org.