Fireworks Cap Regatta

Pittsburghers love their fireworks and the folks at the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta know it. A 25-minute fireworks display will cap off the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta tonight at 9:00. The show will launch from four barges moored in the Ohio River just off the Point.

“It’s a ‘pyromusical,’” said Pyrotecnico show designer Ralph Piacquadio, “For me downtown is great [for viewing] Mount Washington is supper, but here at Point State Park, the North Shore, the South Shore, great places to see it, make sure you listen to the music because it does tell a story.”

Pyrotecnico has been working on the show for months. “On the design side it takes about two hours a minute, that just sitting saying OK we’ve got the effects and now we are going to insert them into the audio.” The team also logs hundreds of hours traveling to find the right shells, building the effects and loading the barges. “We usually do that to the end,” said Piacquadio, “someone will call and say, you know what I was thinking about this last night, lets put this in too.” Piacquadio said the show can be tweaked right down to the last minute because the company’s home is just up river in New Castle.

However being so close add different pressures. “We live here, my family, my friends my neighbors are here, we’re going to bring it, there’s no doubt.”

(Photo courtesy Pyrotecnico)

Sculpting of Sand Begins at Point

Master sculptors have begun working on 150 tons of compacted sand in Point State Park with the goal of creating a masterpiece in time for the opening of the Three River Regatta a week from Saturday. The sand was trucked in last weekend and crews spent nearly a week pouring it into forms, adding water and compacting into three tight blocks. Those three blocks well be merged into a 14-foot tall 50-foot wide block and carved into a single form. “It is going to be absolutely gorgeous,” said sand sculpturing world champion Thomas Koet, “People who like American and Pittsburgh will love what they see but it will be a total surprise.”

The sculptors are working behind tarps to keep away prying eyes. The sculpture will be unveiled July 2nd. Sandsational Sand Sculpting was hired to do the work. Owner Jill Harris says she hopes her team will be invited back next year and she is already asking for more sand if they return.

Montour Bridge Set in Place

Walking and bike riding on the Bethel Branch of the Montour Trail is about to get a bit safer. A 500-ton crane lifted the steel structure of a new bridge into place Wednesday to carry the trail over Clifton Road. Currently trail users have to cross the busy state road at grade. “We have people biking, walking, jogging, walking their dogs, taking their kids out in their strollers so it is a very heavily used section,” said Montour Trail Council Board Member Tom Prezel.

With the steel in place, crews can begin the rest of the work. “Its going to be a concrete deck so they have to put the forms in place, put the concrete in, cure the concrete, there is a curb that has to be put in… We’re currently projecting a September 4th date for an official opening,” said Prezel.

The bridge project came with a price tag of more than a million dollars. The bulk of the funds for the construction came from federal and county grants and the $250,000 in engineering costs was covered mostly by donations from friends and Family of J.R. Taylor for whom the bridge is named.

The 2.7-mile Bethel Branch feeds into the main line of the Montour Trail, which runs from Coraopolis on the Ohio River, trough several south hills communities and ends in Clairton on the Mon River. There are still several gaps along the main line of the Montour Trail. “When the railroad abandon the [line] a lot of these bridges were old bridges and the [PA Public Utility Commission] required that a number of those be taken down,” said Prezel. The Trail Council is still trying to raise funds to close those gaps.

Sand, Skydivers and Pyrotechnics Part of Regatta

Boats racing at 120 miles-per-hour will share the Allegheny River this Fourth of July weekend with an anything that floats race and skydivers touching down in kayaks. All of the events are part of the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta running July 2-4 in and around Point State Park.

“The front side of the park, the back side of the park, the Allegheny River step are now all open to us,” said regatta promoter ISM-USA Vice President Michael Dongilli, “The only thing that is cordoned off is the area around the fountain.”

Powerboat Superleague promotions director Sherron Winer says the River steps will be a great place to watch the Formula 3 and Formula 2 Boat races on the 3rd and the 4th. “F2’s [run] 110-MPH, F3 95-100 MPH. Very fast on a very small piece of water,” said Winer. The F2 boats will run Sunday and the F3s will run Monday with test a qualifying runs held in the morning and the final races running later in the day. Racers will be competing for the Powerboat Superleague North American Championship in each class.

Members of the Red Bull Air Force team will be making two jumps over the weekend. “I’m starting this new sport called skyaking,” said team Member Miles Daisher as he pointed to his small one-man kayak, “We are going to free fall this bad boy out of a helicopter and fly it down and come in landing faster than a speeding ticket.”

On Land, 150 tons of sand is being etched into a sculpture which will be on display all weekend in Point State Park and the acrobatic and pyrotechnics group “Circus Orange” will perform three shows on the main stage set up on the city side of the park.

The popular fireworks show launches at 9:25 p.m. July 4th. The 25 minute show is set to music and produced by New Castle based Pyrotecnico.

A full listing of the weekend's events can be found at the Regatta's website.

Another Step Toward Completion of 150 Mile Trail

A three-mile section of the Great Allegheny Passage opened today when Allegheny County, Allegheny Trail Alliance, and Steel Valley Trail Council representatives raised a ceremonial railroad crossing gate that connects that 150-mile biking and hiking trail with the 185-mile C&O Canal Towpath at Cumberland, Maryland.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said today's opening marks 2 milestones... “First, this part of the trail was the most difficult to complete in Allegheny County due to the active rail lines and numerous property owners. Second, it means that we are literally in the home stretch of finishing the entire 335-mile trail from Downtown Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. Less than one mile remains, and we are working hard to get it completed.”

The new section runs from Grant Avenue in Duquesne to a new 110-foot-long bridge that crosses Norfolk Southern’s Port Perry rail yard and connects to the southern end of the former U.S. Steel coke gas pipeline. A second new bridge, which is 170 feet long, crosses six sets of railroad tracks and connects the northern end of the coke gas pipeline trail to a portion of Allegheny County’s Carrie Furnace site on the south side of the Monongahela River in Whitaker. From there, the trail connects to the Waterfront in Munhall.

Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, believes this will be one of the most popular sections of the Great Allegheny Passage.

“It will be used for recreation, but also by people who work at the Waterfront or the RIDC parks for commuting to work or going out for lunch. This was by far the most complicated piece of trail in our 30-year history of trail building, and we are thrilled with the results."

In October 2010, the county signed easement agreements with Sandcastle Waterpark and CSX Corporation that will enable completion of the final 0.85-mile section of the Great Allegheny Passage. The final segment will follow Sandcastle Drive and pass under a railroad bridge and the Glenwood Bridge, connect to another segment under development....and then link to the existing South Side trail.

CSO Alert Off for First Time in 2011

The Allegheny County Health Department has taken down the orange combined sewer overflow (CSO) flags for the first time this year. The county issues the warnings anytime raw sewage is flowing into the three rivers in Allegheny thanks to recent rainfall.

ACHD spokesperson Guillermo Cole says the county issues the alerts from May 16th through September. The warning flags went up on the first day and are just now being taken down. The alerts do not mean the river is closed, it just means recreational users should limit their contact with the water, “especially those with weakened immune systems,” says Cole.

Last year the county issued 9 alerts averaging 5 days each. Cole says it is not unusual to see a 15-day alert. In 2004 the average alert lasted 21 days. In 1999 the average alert was just 3 days. “It has to do with the amount of rain and when it comes,” says Cole.

Recreational boaters can look for the orange flags at marinas or they can get the information directly from the health department through its web site. A call to 412-687-ACHD will also get the information.

New Three Rivers Water Trail Map Published

Where can I easily put my canoe in the water? Where can I find a bathroom while I kayak? How much farther? Those are questions that the newest Three Rivers Water Trail Map from Friends of the Riverfront should be able to answer.

Friends of the Riverfront released the map in paper form last week and posted a PDF version of the map on line Tuesday. Board member Judy Melvin says there is information on the map for anyone who wants to get on the rivers in a non-motorized watercraft. “From a sightseeing perspective, a commuting perspective or an exploratory history way,” says Melvin. Among the historic highlights on the map are Sycamore Island, Carrie Furnace and the Hot Metal Bridge.

Each beach, ramp or dock access point from 12 miles down the Ohio to 16 and 21 miles up the Mon and Allegheny respectively is marked on the map. “Who has bathrooms, who has parking, ADA accessible, storage racks, picnics?” says Melvin. The map also contains tips for good trips and for safe boating.

The free maps can be picked up at the Friends of the Riverfront office in the terminal building. Melvin says they will also have them at several events this summer including this weekend’s Venture Outdoors Fest. You can also down load the map from the Friends of the Riverfront website.

Kayaking and canoeing the rivers in and around Pittsburgh has been growing in popularity in recent years. Watercraft can now be rented along the rivers and the price of an entry-level watercraft has been slowly dropping. “Its become very easy to do whether you want to do an hour or a whole afternoon or spend a weekend doing it, it has become a very accessible sport,” says Melvin.

Marathon Sunday: Tough Traffic, Better Course

Racers and supporters could be tied to their cell phones Sunday in an effort to get the latest information about the Pittsburgh Marathon and the runners. The Pittsburgh Marathon has rolled out several new cell phone-related technologies including something they are calling the Broadcast Emergency Alert Notification System or “BEAN.” “[Racers] will be able to put their cell phone numbers in and this will be our way of notifying runners of any changes in our course, any other changes that we have race weekend,” said race organizer Patrice Matamoros. The system was envisioned after a microwave over left near the finish line caused police to shut off a section of the course last year.

Racers can also sign up their fans for text alerts. Every time the runner passes over a timing mat a text message will be sent including the time the runner crossed the mat and their estimated finish time, said Matamoros. It can also be linked to Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The new course starts at 6th and Liberty Downtown and runners will not have to make their first turn for three miles, giving tem a chance for a quick and easy start. The runners will finish on the North Shore near the new Stage A-E concert venue. “Our Runners are going to walk off into Gold Lot 1 and we also have a lot of the surrounding parking lots for a huge festival on race day,” said Matamoros.

Racers will also be kept up to date on weather conditions. The traditional series of color-coded flags will be used to let runners know when heat, humidity, sunshine and other factors are combining for dangerous conditions, however this year runners will also see the information on electronic signs posted throughout the course.

Organizers are encouraging racers to plan to arrive for the race by 5:00am. We know how the North Shore handles traffic for sporting events but it is unclear how the traffic will flow with everyone trying to park in a two hour time period, said Matamoros.

Getting around the city could be tough Sunday. A long list of timed road closures has been posted and routes to move motorized traffic in an out of the race loop can be found on the map provided by the Pittsburgh Marathon.

30th Whitewater Rendezvous Runs More Water

For ten years Steve Podratsky has been fighting to install a valve in the Quemahoning Reservoir that would allow more than 3,000 gallons of water to flow into the Stonycreek River every second. On Friday Podratsky will get to see that valve ceremoniously turned for the first time.

The event will mark the beginning of the 30th annual Benscreek Canoe Club Whitewater Rendezvous. The Rendezvous runs Friday the 13th through Sunday the 15th. Most of the activities center around Greenhouse Park in Johnston but with 700 to 800 kayakers and rafters expected to be in town for the event, it will spill over into other creeks and rivers. “We have quite an established whitewater watershed in our area with anywhere from 6 to 10 streams that run from class III to class V,” said Podratsky who is the president of the Benscreek Canoe Club.

Rivers in the area are running high following the wet spring and Podratsky believes that will make for a great run on the Stonycreek. The main race event runs Friday from Carpenter’s Park to Greenhouse Park.

This year the valve will only be opened to allow 350 cubic feet of water per second to pass under the dam and into the river. When the valve, which was installed over the winter, is fully operational it will be capable of releasing 500 cu ft /sec. The old valve topped out at 150 cu ft /sec. The valve replacement project came with a $1.5 million price tag. The goal is to allow water releases every other weekend throughout the spring and fall.

More than half of the kayakers that turnout for the event are from out of town said Podratsky and the region’s whitewater opportunities are growing in fame. “Paint Creek is class V, that stream actually drops 200 feet in elevation in two miles so it has 10 to 12 cascading waterfalls on it that a lot of whitewater kayakers find very attractive and we have Shade Creek too that runs about 14 miles of continues white water,” said Podratsky. Those runs have been getting write-ups in several publications and websites.

Saturday will feature a whitewater rodeo in the recently improved section of Stonycreek in Greenhouse Park. “We have between 30 and 40 semi-professional, intermediate and amateur kayakers,” said Podratsky, “They have 90 seconds to do as many tricks and flips and twists and turns as they can.” The runs will be scored and winners will take home prizes.

Schedules and maps can be found at the Benscreek Canoe Club web page.

Marathon Organizers Look For Record Time

As many as 70 so-called “elite” runners will take part in the Pittsburgh Marathon Sunday and organizers are doing their best to help them zip through the 26.2 miles.

“Our new start line is going to allow runners to get out faster, its going to allow our more elite runners a good shot getting out in a straight, flat area for about three miles before they make their first turn,” says Race Director Patrice Matamoros. The new course begins at the corner of 6th and Liberty, downtown.

Some of the runners will be looking to either qualify for the Olympic trials in Houston or to improve their times and the Pittsburgh organizers are trying to help. “We have three men coming in and they’ve already qualified for the Olympic trials, they are going to be pacing the women in hopes of qualifying women and then we have a rabbit for the men’s race in hopes of leading a pace for the Olympic trials,” says Matamoros.

To qualify for the Olympic trials a male runner must have a time of better than 2 hours 19 minutes. A female must run get under 2:39. The Pittsburgh race is also a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.

Matamoros says she is hoping to see a new Pittsburgh Marathon record set this weekend. The race begins at 7:00 Sunday morning.

Photo Contest Adds to Marathon Events

This year, spectators can also compete in the Pittsburgh Marathon by submitting their pictures to a photo contest.

Pittsburgh Marathon spokeswoman Karen Fredette says the Marathon is looking for photographs from five categories: 1) Kids Marathon, 2) Finish Line Festival, 3) Volunteers and Medical, 4) Course Entertainment, and 5) Only in Pittsburgh.

Fredette says the challenge of the “Only in Pittsburgh” category is to show runners across the United States why they should run this particular marathon.

“We want to showcase the beauty of our city, and things that are unique to us. So, our three rivers, our bridges, iconic restaurants or neighborhoods or streets that are just unique to Pittsburgh,” says Fredette. “We’ll showcase how beautiful the city is and what a great experience it is to be here running.”

Fredette says many of the photos will eventually be used in promotional materials for the Pittsburgh Marathon.

“We hear stories from runners who have taken part in the race, and the things that they say to us are just that: ‘The city is spectacular. The volunteers are so warm and friendly. We can’t believe how many spectators came out and lined the streets,’” says Fredette. “We don’t have that perspective, and we just thought that we would love to try and capture some of that.”

The Marathon staff will select the finalists, and the winners of each category will be elected by popular vote on the Marathon’s Facebook page. The five winners will be given prize packages from sponsor Dick’s Sporting Goods, and will also be recognized on Facebook.

Marathon Sunday: Tough Traffic, Better Course

Racers and supporters could be tied to their cell phones Sunday in an effort to get the latest information about the Pittsburgh Marathon and the runners. The Pittsburgh Marathon has rolled out several new cell phone-related technologies including something they are calling the Broadcast Emergency Alert Notification System or “BEAN.” “[Racers] will be able to put their cell phone numbers in and this will be our way of notifying runners of any changes in our course, any other changes that we have race weekend,” said race organizer Patrice Matamoros. The system was envisioned after a microwave over left near the finish line caused police to shut off a section of the course last year.

Racers can also sign up their fans for text alerts. Every time the runner passes over a timing mat a text message will be sent including the time the runner crossed the mat and their estimated finish time, said Matamoros. It can also be linked to Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The new course starts at 6th and Liberty Downtown and runners will not have to make their first turn for three miles, giving tem a chance for a quick and easy start. The runners will finish on the North Shore near the new Stage A-E concert venue. “Our Runners are going to walk off into Gold Lot 1 and we also have a lot of the surrounding parking lots for a huge festival on race day,” said Matamoros.

Racers will also be kept up to date on weather conditions. The traditional series of color-coded flags will be used to let runners know when heat, humidity, sunshine and other factors are combining for dangerous conditions, however this year runners will also see the information on electronic signs posted throughout the course.

Organizers are encouraging racers to plan to arrive for the race by 5:00am. We know how the North Shore handles traffic for sporting events but it is unclear how the traffic will flow with everyone trying to park in a two hour time period, said Matamoros.

Getting around the city could be tough Sunday. A long list of timed road closures has been posted and routes to move motorized traffic in an out of the race loop can be found on the map provided by the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Medical Teams Ready for Marathon

More than 18-thousand runners are expected to cross the start line in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Marathon but not all of them will finish.

“We expect to see one to three percent of runner visit our aid stations,” says UPMC Sports Medicine Medical Director Ron Roth. Roth will be overseeing more than 300 medical professionals who will be volunteering their time Sunday along the racecourse. Half of the treatments will be given at the 17 aid stations along the course and other half of the patients will be served in the massive medical tent to be set up this week on the North Shore.

Roth says most of the injuries will be simple blisters, bruises and strains but his team will be ready to take care of any emergency including heart attacks and low sodium levels. 25 ambulances are expected to be at the ready along with a mountain of supplies including 100 jars of petroleum jelly, 200 IV’s 4,600 alcohol wipes and 7,600 band-aids.

As Medical Director, Roth will be keeping his eye on the weather as well as the runners. Several weather stations will be set up along the course. “When we look at the weather we’re looking not only at the ambient temperature but we do some calculations,” says Roth, “That includes the humidity, amount of sun, the amount of wind. It’s called the Wet Bulb Globe Index.” The information will be conveyed to the runners through message boards and a system of colored flags.

Roth says the record number of runners means he will have a record number of customers.

VisitPA Goes Mobile

Pennsylvania's tourism website now automatically recognizes smartphones and other mobile devices. The new mobile format will allow users to more easily find attractions and destinations close to them. Rosemary Mape, Deputy Secretary for Tourism Marketing with the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, says the format was designed to cater to mobile phone users. "If sombody's using their smartphone and they type in visitPA.com it will recognize that they're accessing the site using a mobile device and it will automatically take them to the mobile site. Really what it means is that the way that it displays on their phone is in a much more user friendly fashion, it makes it easier." Mape says the site will include "geolocation" which can pick-up the location of users and direct them to nearby attractions. She says that it did not take much money to develop the site because it is a mobile version of the website and not a full app. Last year VisitPA.com saw a 34 percent increase with traffic, welcoming 2 million web visitors and 130,000 international visitors.

Banff Films to Kick Off Outdoor Season

Extreme white water kayaking followed by base jumping and then some relaxing fly-fishing. While it might sound like a busy vacation in the Rockies, it is actually a description of a day’s worth of films coming to Pittsburgh this weekend.

Venture Outdoors opens its annual screening of Banff Film Festival movies Friday. “The weather is starting to get nice, we’ve already seen our first 70 degree day, and what we really want is for this festival to get outside,” says Venture Outdoors Event Coordinator Seth Gernot. “You know, plan that crazy adventure, plan that fun time that you are going to do in the upcoming summer.”

The annual film festival in Banff, Alberta Canada shows films that all have to do with mountain culture. “Meaning extreme sport or it can be something like trying to save a wild river for salmon in Alaska,” says Gernot. The films are usually also extremely visually appealing.

The festival in its original form includes about 300 films. Festival organizers then pare that down to about 30 films for a world tour and further whittle down each film into a shortened version so several can be shown each night. Venture Outdoors will show six of the shortened films each day of the three-day festival in Pittsburgh. “We have requested a third [day] from the Banff folks for a couple of years and just with how tight their schedule is they couldn’t give it to use so we were very happy to find out that we had a third day this year,” says Gernot.

The fest in Pittsburgh began several years ago in the Homestead Library and has grown every year ever since. This year it will be held at the Byham Theater.

Films on free climbing, caving and long boarding (downhill skateboarding) will also be shown. Each evening’s program will run about two and a half hours with a 20-minute intermission.

Ticket information and a full listing of the films can be found at the Venture Outdoors website.

Riverlife to Open Park Memorial Day

With crews still working on the new section of riverfront park near the SouthSide Works, Riverlife took a few people on a tour to show of its creation. A piazza at street level overlooks the park and an amphitheater that flows 30 feet down to a stage. Cutting through the entire 790-foot length of the park is the riverfront hiking and biking trail. Along with views of the river and the Pittsburgh skyline, the stage will be backed by a steel and fabric sculpture.

Riverlife civil engineer Edward Patton says the $12.5 million dollar park will incorporate artifacts found on the site including a 160 thousand pound ladle and an old pump house. “Inside here were all the major pumps that provided water to the steel mill, says Patton. “There is an old discharge pipe where there is actually going to be a lenses put on there and the inside is going to be lit so you can actually walk up and look inside and see what was inside the pump house.” The top of the pump house will be used as an overlook.

Five rusty steel ingots were also found on the site during construction and will be set upright at the down-river entrance to the park. “It is unusual to have these kinds of ingots laying around and primarily why you would find then on a steel mill is that perhaps somebody perished in an accident and may have been cast in one of the ingots,” says Patton. The smaller ingots weigh about 10 thousand pounds and the larger are twice that.

The final phase of the project is still under design and will include boat docks for private and commercial craft.

Rendering by EPD, image courtesy of Riverlife

Watch an audio tour and slideshow of the park here.

City Expands Park

Pittsburgh City Council has taken a preliminary vote to take control of some key forestland on the backside of Mt. Washington. The land will help to expand what has become known as Emerald View Park. It is a greenway that connects several smaller parks overlooking the West End and wrapping around to the back of Mt. Washington overlooking Rt. 51. The ordinance allows the city to accept the 29-acre parcel from the Allegheny Land Trust. Trust Executive Director Roy Kraynak says the trust will maintain a conservation easement on the property. “We hold all of the development rights in the conservation easement so a subsequent city council could not decide to develop the property in some shape or form, we also hold the timber rights,” says Kraynak.

Kraynak says this is a key parcel to preserve given it high scenic and environmental value and its proximity to downtown. It can be seen from Greentree Hill, Sawmill Run Blvd. and Stueben St., says Kraynak. He says there was a potential for the parcel to be developed and not only would the city lose the green hillside but he says such development could lead to landslides and harmful water runoff.

The trust will close on the parcel Thursday and the council will take a final vote next week. The deal is expected to run the Allegheny Land Trust about $212,000. About $20,000 of it came from individual small donors. The work was done in conjunction with the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation. It is the second chunk of forest in the greenway that the trust has handed over to the city. The first was 11 acres in size. Kraynak says there are more parcels to add to Emerald View Park and fundraising efforts will begin soon.

16th Annual Fire & Ice Set to Launch

At least 44 ice sculptures will adorn the streets of downtown Somerset by Sunday afternoon as part of the annual Fire & Ice Festival. Somerset Inc. Executive Director Stephanie Williams says all of the carvings will be within a two-block radius of the “diamond”, which is the intersection of Center Ave and Main St. Several of the sculptures have already been carved and will be put in place Friday morning; the rest will be carved on the spot. “People will see the carvers from Mastro [Gourmet Quality Ice] around but I can’t give them an exact time, it just happens when it happens,” says Williams. She says they used to set times for the carvings but “weather or something always got in the way.”

Along with the ice sculptures the festival includes a fireworks display Friday night, wood carving demonstrations and displays throughout the weekend, kids and teen events, and a photo contest. Williams says the contest is broken into several categories, “ranging from the spirit of Fire & Ice, to people, to animals, and scenery, so it’s a wide variety and believe me the photos are spectacular.” The more than 60 submissions will be on display at the festival head quarters at 113 Main St. A full schedule can be found on the Somerset Inc. website.

All of the outdoor events are free but $6.00 buttons must be purchased for most indoor events. Williams says the best plan is to bundle up and plan to walk around. She says cloudy and 32 degrees is the best conditions for the festival. That is when the ice does not melt and the people do not freeze, says Williams.

South Park Makeover?

Allegheny County presented designs for revitalizing South Park at a public meeting last night. Homestead-based GAI Consultants worked up three possible plans developed with input from people who use the park and work at the park.

Jeaneen Zappa is the county’s first Sustainability Manager. She says the plan calls for restoring Catfish Run to its natural state. The stream was put into a concrete channel at some point after being one of the original reasons for locating the park where it is. Other plans embody key “green” principles and make economic sense: replacing paved areas with grass and vegetation reduces storm water, is more aesthetically pleasing and park-like, and less expensive to maintain.

Work cannot begin until funds are raised, and Zappa says it will take time to attract partners and refine a strategy, but county residents can be sure the plans will not simply be shelved. She expects to have more information available to the public in the first quarter of next year.

Pennsylvania Challenges Citizens To Go Outdoors

The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation hopes all 30,000 miles of trails will be used this month. The foundation is promoting the Great Pennsylvania Outdoor Challenge, which encourages Pennsylvanians to use the trails and parks and to engage in an active lifestyle. The challenge is also a fundraiser for the foundation. The event, in its third year, is held from September 10th to October 10th in parks and trails across Pennsylvania.

Businesses, organizations, and individuals can sign up for $25 online or call the foundation office at 717-236-7644. After registering participants receive a mileage tracker and pledge form to track their mileage. Participants can ask friends and family to sponsor them in their personal challenge to walk, bike, or paddle a set number of miles along the state’s many trails and streams.

The money raised will go to support state park and forest improvement projects. According to foundation President Marci Mowery, participants can also direct where their donation fees go. “They can go to our work, the foundation, or participants can say we want our funds to go to help build trails or put playgrounds in state parks,” Mowery says.

The event raises public awareness about the value of our public lands while encouraging Pennsylvanians to discover the more than 2.2 million acres of state forests and 120 state parks in the Commonwealth.