Jan 2, 2016 3 min read

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy acquired 90 acres in Somerset County adjacent to Great Allegheny Passage that it will add to its 280-acre Casselman River Conservation Area.

The tract, which was purchased for nearly $350,000, is one of four properties purchased in recent years by the conservancy along the Casselman, which feeds the Youghiogheny River.

The Great Allegheny Passage hiking trail runs north from Washington D.C., through Cumberland, Md., northwest to Rockwood, then turns south to Confluence before turning northwest again through Ohiopyle, Connellsville and West Newton before finally ending in Pittsburgh. One leg of the trail turns south at McKeesport, going south to Clairton and joining with the Montour Trail. The distance of the trail is 335 miles from Pittsburgh to the District of Columbia.

The new property purchased by the conservancy is now open and accessible to the public for fishing, hiking and other forms of low-impact recreation.

The family of B. Kenneth Simon provided the lead funding for the purchase of this property from Red Rock Enterprises, Inc., with additional funding provided through the McKenna Foundation and other public and private sources.

“The Great Allegheny Passage is one of the recreational treasures of our community,” said Thomas D. Saunders, president and CEO of WPC. “It’s an extraordinary trail, when you think that people can start biking or hiking at Point State Park in Pittsburgh and take continuous trails all the way to Cumberland, Md., and then on to Washington, D.C. It is a pleasure to do these projects at the Conservancy where we fundraise for and then protect the key view properties along the trail. This property is a beautiful and important addition to the protected lands along the trail.”

• Frazier-Simplex Rifle Range in Wolfdale will be home to a pair of major shoots next weekend as the NRA Open Indoor Metric Position Smallbore Rifle Sectional and Pennsylvania State 3-Position Indoor Metric Championship will be held there Saturday and Sunday.

The 120-shot NRA registered national match is open to junior and senior shooters.

Registration is required before the event. To register, call Jim Husk at 724-222-3369 or Tom Benedict at 412-760-9512, or via e-mail at jwhusk15301@hotmail.com or 10.9tmb@gmail.com.

• The deadline to enter Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Youth Wildlife Art Contest is Jan. 29.

The contest is open for Pennsylvania youths in grades 6-8 and 9-12.

All artwork must be postmarked on or before Jan. 29 and must be accompanied by a completed and signed entry form, which can be obtained at http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1595079&mode=2.

All artwork must depict one or more of Pennsylvania’s endangered or threatened species. The species should be correct in color, proportional size and shape. The bald eagle is no longer eligible to be entered in the contest since it is now considered a recovered species.

The winning artwork will receive a montetary prize and be displayed in Pennsylvania Game News.

For information, visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission web site.

Outdoors Editor F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.