NARRATOR: Coming up on Keystone Stories, the outdoor lifestyle.

[music playing] Support for Keystone Stories comes from Tom and Sara Songer of the Torron Group in State College, a proud supporter of programming on WPSU.

More information at torrongroup.com.

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Center County Historical Society with support from Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Andy and Chris Bater, the following endowments, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to Keystone Stories.

Living the outdoor lifestyle means that you embrace spending time outside, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful landscapes that Pennsylvania has to offer, and interacting with Mother Nature can take many forms.

Hunting and fishing are cherished traditions connecting us to nature and our local heritage.

Outdoor activities, like hiking and camping, not only promote personal well-being but are also a benefit to local businesses, tourism, and the economy.

MAN: Our outdoor industry is the eighth largest among all states in the United States, and that industry is distributed over more than 9,000 businesses in the Commonwealth, everything from global brands to mom and pop shops.

Outdoor recreation is about the benefits.

It delivers us quality time with friends and family, challenge and accomplishment, learning and discovery.

Being a member of a community of outdoor recreationists, that's what outdoor recreation is about to us.

NARRATOR: And since the 1950s, members of this community have been gathering every February as part of a very large celebration of the outdoor lifestyle.

MAN: So we're at the 2025 NRA Great American Outdoor Show, the world's largest outdoor show.

We have over 1,000 exhibitors in nine halls in the Farm Show Complex here, covering over 650,000 square feet of exhibit space.

This is a nine-day show that's a celebration of hunting, fishing, and outdoor traditions are cherished by millions of Americans and Pennsylvanians-- anything outdoor-related, from hunting and fishing to family vacations.

They have fly fishing demonstrations.

They have just about all manufacturers, charter boat people, fishing guides, hunting guides.

There's boats.

There's campers.

There's just about anything you want that's outdoor-oriented right here at the show.

In addition to the exhibit floor, this is an educational show.

There are over 200 seminars and workshops being put on by over 45 leaders in the outdoor industry.

And those seminars cover hunting tips, fishing tips, trapping, wild game cooking, and much more.

We also have the ever-popular DockDogs competition in the large arena.

That's where those athletic canines jump for distance and height.

We also have the Pennsylvania Lumberjack Championships going on during this show.

Attendees could also register to compete in the 3D Bowhunter Challenge, test their accuracy and proficiency with a bow.

MAN: People that are outdoor related, they have that common camaraderie, that common bond, likeminded people.

Not only do they like the outdoors, they like to get their families involved in the outdoors.

And anything you can do that's family oriented, it's really worthwhile to memories that you're creating.

Your children are never going to forget.

They're never going to forget.

NARRATOR: Many outdoor Pennsylvanians create their memories beside or in a stream.

The Commonwealth offers nearly 85,000 miles of rivers and streams for fishermen and fisherwomen.

They say a day on the water beats a day in the office any day, even if you don't catch any fish.

So it's just a great place to surround yourself for some serenity, calm, and just being in nature.

Back in 2007, a local woman put an ad in the local paper seeking other women to join her for friendships through the sport of fly fishing.

That ad was answered, and shortly thereafter, a group of women founded the early beginnings of our organization.

And then ultimately, we got to where we are today, which is the Spring Creek Chapter, Trout Unlimited Women Anglers.

So from that ad back in 2007, a woman named Jean Brenchley joined the group.

Jean unfortunately got diagnosed with a rare disease.

Prior to her passing, she set up an endowment, which allows us to help support the outreach that we like to do with women in the community to learn the art of fly fishing.

So for beginners, if you come out to one of our outings, we can equip you with a rod, depending on maybe some waders and boots.

And a lot of us are very willing to share.

Sometimes a mentor will stay with that angler for their first outing, someone they can bounce questions off of.

And that could just be all it is to get them to that nice presentation for them to land their first fish in the hopes that they keep coming back.

So I'm a mom.

So you get that proud, proud parent moment where you're like I helped somebody.

It's just an incredible opportunity to pass on what folks have given me.

And that kind of all comes together when they're holding their fish for the picture.

It's a really special moment.

NARRATOR: If you'd rather keep your feet dry, enjoying the outdoors can be as simple as going for a walk.

You may also enjoy interacting with some wildlife.

And thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the state's mammal and bird populations are protected and healthy and will be for generations.

The game commission is your state wildlife agency.

We are here for the public to make sure that resource is here for the next generation.

And that's a pretty important job, and we take it very seriously.

We are all extremely passionate about being outside and making sure that opportunity lives on for our kids.

You also have other people that maybe are in a law enforcement background, or maybe they're biology.

So we have a whole variety of people that find their way into being game wardens or Pennsylvania Game Commission employees in general.

Let's just use this game lands as an example.

So the parking lot that we're sitting in is maintained by a habitat crew.

They also do some habitat work.

We can talk about foresters.

The forests that we have here is managed to improve for wildlife conditions.

So we have all these different kind of spectrum of staff that work together to put places like this available for the public.

WOMAN: Today, we're hosting the Junior Game Warden Camp.

Here in the North Central region, we have about 30 students, and they are ages 12 to 15.

And today, they are learning how to be state game wardens, essentially.

So we're taking them through a variety of different skills the game wardens use.

For instance, we have bear trapping.

This is just a way for the kids to experience what it could be like to be a game warden.

It's an exposure thing.

A lot of people, if you're not from a hunting family, you might not know what the Pennsylvania Game Commission does.

So this is a way for us to reach people that are young and could potentially become game wardens in the future.

The bears this morning were caught for research purposes.

They were able to show the kids how to add ear tags to them, so we can track an individual bear.

We need to monitor how many bears we have in Pennsylvania so that we can keep a healthy population.

All that data that we collect from each individual bear shows us the trends through the decades we've been doing this.

The game commission is in charge of all 480 species of wildlife in Pennsylvania.

We monitor the bears.

We also keep track very closely of our elk herd, which is the jam essentially of the North Central region.

At one point, there were no elk left in Pennsylvania, and now we are to the point where they are so healthy that we allow hunting in different seasons to control that population.

MAN: So bald eagle, similar recovery.

I can remember as a kid seeing a bald eagle was a major thing.

It was big news in town that somebody saw an eagle out by this creek.

And today, it's not uncommon to see eagles if you're in the right area-- so another very good success story.

And we have a lot of success stories like that.

I've worked for the agency for 25 years.

I've been in the field of wildlife conservation for close to 35 years now.

It's a very rewarding career.

Not everyone gets to say they've played a role in providing something for their next generation to enjoy out there.

Yeah, it's very rewarding.

NARRATOR: Perhaps the most time-honored outdoor activity is hunting.

Generations have shared stories and camaraderie with their fellow hunters, all while doing their part to maintain healthy wildlife in Pennsylvania.

One of the best places to create these memories is at the hunting camp.

MAN: This property has been in existence for about 175 years.

It was actively farmed for four generations.

My grandparents lived here.

And when he died in 1955, my grandmother couldn't afford to keep this anymore, so she sold it to a group of hunters.

There were 13 of them.

And in 1958 is when this became Winona Falls Farm.

MAN: The guys that first bought the cabin.

I used to come up and hunt a lot with them when I was younger.

I had a lot of fun.

They had a lot of fun.

They hunted hard, but we had a lot of fun.

And I kind of always liked that.

You laugh, and you cut each other up.

And it didn't matter whether you killed something.

It was just you had a really good time.

It's just a place to go to, and us guys have a little blow off steam and shoot a few deer.

And you're happy.

Brian.

Brian.

That's his first year.

We, in general, are a hunting family.

Well, we have been since we were little kids.

My brother and I were raised on a farm, and we started in the summertime shooting groundhogs and deer.

Hunting was-- my father, of course, was involved with this one.

It was still family.

And it was just in our blood.

We started and stayed right with it, and we always have.

Once you get it, you're stung.

You got it for life.

Most people, as long as their health holds out, they'll get out there.

MAN: It's great to be able to get a grandson or any child out and teach them the outdoors and teaching how to take care, being stewards of the forest, being stewards of the ground.

And it's great to see them carry that on.

I grew up.

My dad was into firearms, done some gunsmithing.

He hunted.

I hunted from the start at 12 years old.

I have two sons that were in the 4H shooting program, and they hunted as well from 12 until they left home or went to college.

My first buck, it wasn't here at the cabin, of course.

It was where I grew up in Unityville.

I was 13.

I didn't get one when I was 12.

I think it was equal, me getting my first buck and watching my sons get their first buck and being with them because I'd done what my dad done, raised two boys, got them into hunting, shooting, and they were successful.

It meant a lot to get your first buck.

[music playing] MAN: I like the outdoors, and I spend a lot of time outdoors.

But when you're raised on a farm, you live outdoors.

People in general that hunt are outdoors people.

They hike.

They fish.

And it's just another time to be outside.

I grew up with hunting, and it was in my blood.

And we always had a good time.

I liked the camaraderie of working with people and doing things together.

I like the cabin life, not just the hunting, but I like the cabin life too.

Most people that are true hunters and really get out there, you're going to find that most of them are pretty good people.

NARRATOR: Pennsylvania offers an abundance of natural beauty and outdoor adventures, all made possible by dedicated efforts to protect wildlife and preserve the environment.

Thanks to these ongoing commitments, the state's outdoor lifestyle will thrive for generations to come.

The next two stories from the program, Scitech Now, explore the preservation and education efforts surrounding two very different species, elk and rattlesnakes.

MAN: But the fact that Pennsylvania's elk season happens at all has always been a long shot.

By 1867, settlers wiped out the native elk population.

In 1913, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reintroduced the animal.

Today, there are more than 1,000 elk roaming an 800 square mile section of the Commonwealth.

The epicenter of the resurgence is Benezette.

It's opening day, and Gary Fritz is one of the lucky few.

He's entered the elk hunt lottery 14 of the past 15 years.

This year, he finally got a shot, and he took it.

Fritz is one of just 10 hunters to bag a bull on the first day.

Some of you may be wondering.

Why hunt an animal with a history of population problems?

But this is more than sport.

It's biology.

JEREMY BANFIELD: This is our annual check station.

It's held during every day of the hunting season.

So it's a mandatory check station.

If you harvest an elk in Pennsylvania, you have to come through the check station within 24 hours.

MAN: The first component of the check station is law enforcement.

Wait.

548, right?

MAN: Conservation officers want to know where the elk was killed and who killed it.

After that, the scientists go to work on the second component, health monitoring.

First, the basics.

JEREMY BANFIELD: We take a tooth for an age.

So the tooth is removed.

A central incisor is removed.

It's sliced microscopic thin, put on a slide stained.

And then essentially, with every year of life, a layer of cementum is added to the tooth.

And you can count those up like you would count the rings in a tree.

MAN: Then some smaller samples that could reveal much larger problems.

Blood is drawn and tested for disease.

A small slice of the tongue is used for DNA.

The lungs are examined for tuberculosis.

The brainstem and lymph nodes are tested for chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurological disease present in the whitetail deer population in Southern Pennsylvania.

We're trying to make sure that the animals have a good genetic diversity so that when they get chronic wasting disease-- and unfortunately, it will happen eventually-- we can tell that they're going to be as genetically diverse as possible to combat the disease as much as it can.

MAN: After the outdoor lab, the antlers are measured and scored, and the bulls in Pennsylvania have been impressive.

MAN: It's a good indication of how the animals are doing.

Everything, the thickness, all that is a real good indication of good health of the herd.

And plus too, what happens is we will get ages.

So obviously, this looks great.

Size, everything is great.

We get the age back.

Again, it gives us a real good indication.

Some of these are only reached five or six years old.

They're not even in their prime yet.

MAN: It's a sign of a comeback nearly 100 years in the making, one made possible by a culture of conservation at the game commission and in the hunting community.

I think it's very important.

I mean, it's part of-- I'm part of nature to watch the cycle of nature take place, and nowhere is better than in Pennsylvania on a day like today.

MAN: Snakes have had some bad press.

It started with the book of Genesis, and things haven't gotten much better since the Garden of Eden.

According to a Gallup poll, more Americans are afraid of snakes than they are of public speaking, heights, and spiders.

You want to pick them up and you-- MAN: But in the forests of Pennsylvania, a man is on a mission to help people overcome their evolutionary impulses and learn to love snakes.

My family screwed up.

Most people I went to school with had three-wheelers and horses and dogs and cats.

We had snakes.

And my dad did the snake hunts.

MAN: Bill Wheeler is the driving force behind the Keystone Reptile Club.

His father helped found it in 1968.

Back then, timber rattlesnakes were viewed as the enemy.

The club wanted to change that.

BILL WHEELER: If you kids can understand the hourglass shape through the dark bands or the Hershey Kisses back down the side, maybe you'll save some snakes by teaching them that that's not a copperhead.

That's just a snake that I was holding, and he isn't going to hurt anybody.

MAN: Today, Wheeler is hosting the Annual Rattlesnake Hunt at the Sinnemahoning Sportsman's Club.

The event is all about education.

BILL WHEELER: What I want you to look at is next time you find a snake shed, because I don't want you picking up any snake unless you know what you're looking at.

I already know they bite like, but I didn't know that some of them like got poison.

I learned how to handle the snakes and what are venomous and nonvenomous.

I think the snakes are cute, so It's neat watching the kids absorb everything they're taking in and knowing they're down the right path.

It's squeezing around my hand.

MAN: The kids get to handle all the non-venomous snakes they want.

The pros handle the rattlers.

BILL WHEELER: As far as the ecosystem goes, eat a lot of rodents, lots of rodents.

And I like to say I would love to see one year without a rattlesnake or a copperhead in the woods to see what it looks like because we'd be overrun with rodents.

MAN: When you hear snake hunt, your first thought might be kill.

This, however, is a conservation effort.

In 1978, the timber rattlesnake was listed as a candidate species for threatened or endangered status in Pennsylvania.

The Fish and Boat Commission removed it from that list in 2016.

Even so, these hunts have a strict no-kill policy.

BILL WHEELER: They come in.

They give us a snake.

We identify it, sex it, and mark it, all that good stuff.

Use it for the educational tool it is.

Release it right back into the wild.

We want them released where you caught them.

Snake won't do very good if you release it in a different spot.

They have their own trek they use throughout their life, and they'll travel that same little semicircle throughout their life.

MAN: Timber rattlesnakes can be found in heavily forested mountains across the Commonwealth.

They are dangerous, but they're not out to get you.

There has only been one rattlesnake-related fatality in Pennsylvania in the past 30 years.

They are part of a complex ecosystem, both predator and prey with life-saving potential.

Snake venom research has led to treatments for heart attacks, hypertension, even cancer, breakthroughs that may not have been possible without a little respect.

BILL WHEELER: Have a respect for them.

Respect your outdoors.

It doesn't matter if you're looking at snakes or whatever you're doing.

Respect your outdoors and learn about them.

And hopefully, you can keep all your friends and your family from killing every snake you see.

Outdoor activities are more enjoyable thanks to ongoing efforts throughout the state.

For example, waterways are regularly stocked with fish by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, so anglers have lots of opportunities to catch fish.

And on land, thousands of miles of hiking trails are regularly maintained by volunteers.

MAN: We have a great trail in the Everest region.

People talk about, is something Instagram-worthy?

And this trail is definitely Instagram-worthy.

The problem is with that comes challenges.

And the challenges are getting people up to the trail, getting equipment up to the trail, getting people and equipment up to the trail safely, and then taking care of whatever work that needs to be done up there.

So the work of KTA in arranging multi-day trail crew events-- MAN: KTA is Keystone Trails Association.

We're a statewide nonprofit.

We've been around since 1956, and we provide, protect, promote, and preserve hiking trails and hiking opportunities in Pennsylvania.

So the midstate trail is Pennsylvania's longest hiking trail.

It's over 300 miles from the Maryland border.

The whole way to New York goes right through the center of the state, and it goes over many mountain ridges as it goes through what we call the Ridge and Valley Province of PA.

And then it eventually gets up to the Allegheny Plateau.

So it's really a nice sort of tour of an important swath of Pennsylvania.

One of the great things about Pennsylvania is that it rains.

One of the bad things about Pennsylvania is it rains.

So we have wonderful trails.

But if you do not control the vegetation, it gets to the point where the trails are not trails anymore, and they are just overgrown jungle of frustration and heartache.

And so that's what we're doing out there is we're trimming back the vegetation so that people can actually enjoy the trail.

WOMAN: So today, I've gathered my crew from REI.

We're out here volunteering from the Bedford Distribution Center, and we're clearing the Everett portion of the midstate trail.

Well, not only is it a part of our values, but it really boosts employee morale and team building, and it allows our employees to experience the outdoors.

We're inside all day.

We're making.

And we're seeing all the different trail products that we're dealing with and shipping out to customers.

So it's a different way we're able to get outdoors and explore and also give back to our community and feel good about what we're doing.

MAN: People are out here, and they are giving back to their community, not only just the local community here, but the greater hiking community as well, which is, I think, very positive.

This section was somewhat overgrown, and in just a day with a lot of person power, we can clear it out.

We can get it back to snuff so that when a backpacker comes through here or a day hiker, they have a quality experience.

Pennsylvania's outdoor recreation economy is so important.

It's a big sector.

It's a growing sector in our state.

We want people to have the best time on the trail possible, and our maintenance work and the maintenance work of others helps assure that.

I love hiking.

I love to see people get out and enjoy the out of doors.

And everybody has their thing, and that's my thing.

I can run a brush cutter, and I can make a nice trail for people to enjoy.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time on Keystone Stories.

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