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EDITOR’S DESK
Starting off on the right foot
As a Slovak, my wife is fond of this saying from her native country: as New Year’s Day goes, so goes the whole year. For her, it’s not just a day for good intentions, but good actions. One of her favorite actions is hitting the trail for a New Year’s Day hike. It may be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I’ve noticed what follows is a lot of hiking throughout the year.
We are fortunate to have such a wealth of parks and trails in the Commonwealth for that pursuit. While we’ve hiked in a number of different places, including some different states and even a few other countries, we truly enjoy the outdoor beauty Pennsylvania has to offer hikers.
Often, when I’m on the trail, I find myself marveling at the work that went into creating these wondrous pathways through the woods. Traversing a steep switchback with carefully laid stones, I am grateful for the effort others took to ease my way along these trails.
In detailing the history of our state parks, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) notes the significant contribution of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, which also helped spur the rural electric cooperative movement.
Following the Great Depression, the CCC employed millions of American men by putting them to work on civic projects across the country. Over a nine-year period, these men helped create more than 700 new state parks, many of them in Pennsylvania. In fact, Pennsylvania had more than 150 CCC camps that worked on state parks and forests — second only to California. According to the DCNR, Pennsylvania received so many camps because of a forward-thinking plan set forth by Gov. Gifford Pinchot, who was the first head of the U.S. Forest Service and an early proponent of rural electrification.
Thanks to those early pioneers, and to those who continue to maintain our state parks and trail systems, we can enjoy hiking in some of the finest surroundings nature has to offer — even in January. To cite another of my wife’s Slovak expressions: There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Happy New Year.
PETER A. FITZGERALD
EDITOR
HOG WILD
Pennsylvania's feral boar population on the upswing
A recent study based on data from the University of Georgia shows that feral hogs have been reported in at least 14 Pennsylvania counties, mostly in the south-central and north-central regions of the state.
Feral hogs can cause tremendous damage to agricultural crops and forests. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture, which tracks the spread of the non-native hogs, says the animals cause $2.5 billion in agricultural damage each year, can destroy forests and may transmit diseases and parasites.
Wild hogs, also known as wild boar and razorbacks, are an invasive species that can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh up to 400 pounds. They’re tusked, hairy, sharp-toothed, aggressive and can run 30 miles per hour.
Feral swine had a presence in only 20 states just four decades ago, researchers report. Now, the animals can be found in 36 states as their range expands westward and northward.
To learn more about feral hogs, check out the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s fact sheet at pgc.pa.gov/Hunting/Documents/Stop Feral Swine.
BIGGER AND BETTER
State Archives moves into 'coolest building in state government'
State and city officials recently cut the ribbon to open the new State Archives building at 1681 N. Sixth St. in Harrisburg.
The 146,000-square-foot building, which has double the storage space available at its former location in the Capitol Complex, is open to the public 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, effective Jan. 3.
“I think this is the coolest building in state government,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said following his brief tour preceding the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “I want all Pennsylvanians and Pennsylvanians for generations to come to appreciate the important work that is done here and to be able to rediscover our history and, most importantly, to learn from it.”
Among the historic documents in the archives are the original copy of an act passed in 1780 calling for the gradual abolition of slavery, the records from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Three Mile Island partial meltdown and the minute-by-minute field notes from former State Police Commissioner Paul Evanko after the Flight 93 crash near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.
GREEN WITH ?????
DEP solves mystery behind discolored Lancaster County creek
The mystery behind the sudden change of color of a Lancaster County creek to a shade of bright green has been solved.
The curious change in color of the Little Conestoga Creek was reported on Nov. 25. Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated and soon discovered the source was an accidental spill of green food dye, which officials said was not harmful to the public, the environment or wildlife. Following water tests, DEP determined no further action was necessary.
CURBING COLLISIONS
Grant funding will be used to build wildlife crossings
Pennsylvania will receive $840,000 in grant funds as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The grant money is designated for programs that will reduce and prevent the number of deadly collisions between vehicles and wildlife on the Commonwealth’s roads through wildlife crossings.
In September, State Farm Insurance Company released information showing that Pennsylvania reported the highest number of auto insurance claims filed for animal-vehicle collisions among all states between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
BIG BOARS: Feral hogs, which can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh up to 400 pounds, are now roaming in 14 Pennsylvania counties. Classified as an invasive species, the animals cause an estimated $2.5 billion in agricultural damage a year nationwide.
TIMELINES
A decade ago, Penn Lines shared the news that the U.S. Navy would be commissioning the USS Somerset in honor of the passengers and crew who died aboard Flight 93. The plane was among those hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. More than 1,200 Somerset County residents, along with Flight 93 family members, were expected to attend the ceremony at Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing that March.
Also in this issue
Horsepower and Hoedowns
Meet the Somerset County tractor aficionados who have been kicking up their wheels for decades