Outdoors

‘Renegade’ trails are costly for visitors

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — “Renegade” trails seeming to spring up overnight and the mountain bikers wiping out on their twists and turns prove a strange — and growing — problem for local firefighters. Steve Apostal is used to cutting through brush and hiking ridges with only a set of coordinates as his guide, and he’s no longer surprised by the oddly structured trails with questionable origins. The Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department assistant chief and avid biker himself has responded to a growing count of calls for help on those unsanctioned trails behind the Grand ...

Bears in backyards are becoming more and more common across Lehigh Valley

EASTON (AP) — The bear first left a friendly warning. One morning in mid-May, it knocked over the garbage cans in Gary Ramunni’s driveway in rural Williams Township, dragging trash bags all the way to the woods. Two weeks later, it did it again. “We knew, that’s not raccoons,” Ramunni said. The second time, Ramunni warned his wife to be on the lookout for a large and hairy visitor, then left for the dentist. He hadn’t yet reached the office when his wife called him: The 400-pound black bear was in the backyard, lying leisurely on the ground and lunching on the sunflower ...

Shunning virus and big oil, Alaska tribe fights on

ARCTIC VILLAGE, Alaska (RNS) — Arriving home on one of the last regular flights before pandemic restrictions went into effect in mid-February, Sarah James got to her house to find two caribous worth of meat in her freezer. Since flights have become intermittent to this indigenous village 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle, said James, a leader of the Gwich’in Athabascan people, the store periodically runs out of basics like meat and sugar. Subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering have been more critical than ever. To ensure that Arctic Village’s population of fewer than 200 ...

ATV riders swarm back to hit the trails after lengthy closure

GILBERT, W.Va. (AP) — During the two-month closure of Southern West Virginia’s Hatfield-McCoy Trails over COVID-19 concerns, operators of businesses catering to trail riders wondered when, or even if, the trail system would be allowed to reopen for the year. That concern was alleviated when Gov. Jim Justice gave the green light to reopening the popular venue for motorized trail riders, with certain restrictions, on Memorial Day weekend. With an opening date in hand, trail-related businesses scrambled to get the word out in an effort to reclaim one of the busiest weekends of the ...

Outdoors Calendar

Atkinson Mills Sportsmen’s Club ¯ Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The club is located at 55 Sportsmen Club Lane, McVeytown; email atkinsonmillssportsmensclub@gmail.com; online at http://atkinsonmills-sportsmensclub.weebly.com Blue Rock Sportsman Club ¯ Club meetings at 2 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month on the gun range, and at 7 p.m. in January and February in the barn. To east end Blue Rock: From Milroy, follow signs to Reeds Gap State Park. Free camping available and kitchen is open during all events except trap shoots. Decatur ...

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