“An important step in creating new opportunities for anglers of all ability levels and … a model for communities across the Commonwealth.”

These are the words Cindy Adams Dunn, state Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources, used to describe a new fishing platform at the Tomb Run Campground on the Pine Creek in Wednesday’s edition of the Sun-Gazette.

We agree.

We’ve long argued that one of our region’s most notable blessings is the abundance of beauty and of opportunity nature brings.

We’ve long extolled the value of recreation in our region’s outdoors for both the education of our youth and the health of Pennsylvanians and visitors of all ages.

As Tim Schaeffer, state Fish and Boat Commission executive director, put it in Wednesday’s article, “spending time in nature is beneficial to everyone’s health, and we are proud to support efforts like this that create avenues to get more people fishing.”

We appreciate the state’s efforts at ensuring these opportunities are available to as many people as possible and we look forward to state departments’ and offices’ continued leadership in promoting the value of nature and outdoors recreation and the importance of inclusiveness toward people of differing abilities.

— Williamsport Sun-Gazette