The free program will explore and discuss the various ways North American generations have identified with black bears. Topics will also include folklore, history, biology, and safety in bear country.

The program will take place near the Kinzua Beach bath house. Bring your own chairs, blankets and flashlights.

For information, call the Bradford Ranger District at (814) 363-4613.

Northwest Region director Keith E. Harbaugh said the office will relocate to 1415 Pittsburgh Road, Franklin, PA 16323 — half a mile north of its permanent site on Route 8. Starting Sept. 8, the temporary office will be in place for 12 months to 16 months as demolition and construction take place.

“Some may question the prudence in building a new facility,” Harbaugh said. “The truth is that the current office was built in the 1960s and it does not meet our needs for space or efficiency. We had engineers look at remodeling and expanding the current facility to meet our current and future needs. The engineers came back with a solid recommendation to raze the building and erect a new facility.”

From a report prepared in 2005 about needed work at the facility: “The existing northwest regional office was constructed back in the 1950s. The existing building is too small to service the public and adequately house the regional work staff. The existing building also has structural and facility deficiencies including a leaky roof, substandard doors and windows, poor insulation and inadequate wiring and data systems. The new building will be an energy efficient structure that will be located on the same parcel of land. The existing building will be demolished after the new building is constructed.”

“As responsible stewards we did not enter into this venture lightly, but we do believe that this is a wise use of the Growing Greener Bond initiative and will address a serious infrastructure need.”

The facility’s mailing address and phone number will remain unchanged: P.O. Box 31 Franklin, PA 16323, and (814) 432-3187.

That hardly was the end of the matter for the DCNR.

The state’s first “nature inn” — that is, a $7.5 million, 18,500-square-foot, for-profit hotel on taxpayer-owned land — had its grand opening today at Bald Eagle State Park. Cost for rooms ranges from $110 to $300.

This is considered a pilot project. Sierra Club Pennsylvania indicated plans also have been discussed for an inn at Parker Dam State Park in Clearfield County. Earlier attempts to place them in S.B. Elliott State Park in Clearfield County and Prince Gallitzin State Park in Cambria County were shot down by the DCNR itself.

Pennsylvania’s state parks are held in trust for the people of the state. According to Section 27 of the state Constitution:

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and (a)esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

These lands belong to residents, not to government officials. The notion that the money generated from inns and other private entities is necessary to fund the parks is a laughable, cyclical argument; once infrastructure is built, of course upkeep is needed. But the state parks and other public lands in their native (or at least second-growth) skins are the draw. Bald Eagle State Parks’ inn boasts of Blu-Ray players. How about blue sky?

I’ve stayed at aged hotels in our grand national parks. I plan to do so again. But I’d argue against any proposal to put up new buildings. Modern convenience isn’t the reason I visit national or state parks. The occasional glance around suggests other visitors aren’t in it for in-room movie rentals either.

Pay-to-play fees arrived at federal and state recreation sites over the past two decades. Pay-to-stay ought not to get the same chance in Pennsylvania’s public lands.

Simms is giving you an option.

The wader-maker is offering vouchers for as much as $50 off a new set of waders throught Oct. 31 when you trade in your old breathables. Simms also will recycle your trade-in.

50 elk licenses will be awarded.

Hunters who submitted applications can check the website to see if they were selected. It should be updated by Sept. 17. An individual’s status will be changed to “Awarded,” from “Pending.” Those not selected will see the status changed to “Unsuccessful.”

More on elk licenses here.

1. The FLW American Fishing Series.

2. National Guard FLW College Fishing.

Both will launch out of Presque Isle State Park, with weigh-ins there as well. The AFS event is Sept. 9-11, the college event Sept. 11.

See Sunday’s Erie Times-News for a larger look at the college fishing experience, and turn to the Times-News and www.nwpaoutdoors.com starting Tuesday for daily coverage of the AFS pro event.

Volunteers who own bass boats still are welcome for the college event.

And boaters who want to fish the AFS event still have time to register.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the American Legion, 4109 W, 12^th St. Doors open at 6:30. This and other monthly meetings are open to the public.

Arway and Mascharka — an Erie native recently named to the board of commissioners — will talk about the proposed Marcellus Shale severance tax as well as the Fish and Boat Commission’s existing and planned projects in northwestern Pennsylvania. District 1 includes Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties.

Mascharka sits on the commissioners’ boating, communications, fisheries, law enforcement and legislation committees.

Since 1919, when it was granted authority to buy property, the Game Commission has acquired more than 1.4 million Revenue for the purchases has come almost entirely from license sales; timber, coal, oil, gas and mineral operations; a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition; Working Together for Wildlife artwork and patch sales; and from the Pennsylvania Waterfowl Management stamp and print sales.

A great way for hunters and nonhunters to learn about the game lands is through the occasional tours the Game Commission leads on select sites. A few such tours are coming up in September and October. Take part if you have the time; you’ll be surprised at what you might learn.

Elk County: Sept. 25, SGL 44, which covers more than 31,755 acres. At 1 p.m., the three-hour tour will start on Kyler Road at the large Game Commission sign for the Brandy Camp Kojancic Parcel. Attendees will use their own vehicle to travel SGL 44, and will view small game and pheasant stocking areas where habitat projects improved formerly surface-mined lands. The tour also will view some mine reclamation work and acid-mine abatement work being done by DEP on that parcel of land. The tour will then proceed across Route 219 to the Shawmut Road parcel of SGL 44 to view warm-season grass projects and brush pile projects work done over the past two years. High-clearance vehicle are preferred, but four-wheel drive is not needed. The tour will be conducted by Land Management Group Supervisor John Dzemyan and Wildlife Conservation Officer Dick Bodenhorn.

McKean County: Sept. 26, SGL 62, comprised of 1,526 acres. The tour will begin at 1 p.m. at the Game Commission Food and Cover Buildings, one mile east of the Kinzua Bridge State park Entrance in McKean County. Attendees will walk and use their own vehicles to travel on this three-hour tour of SGL 62 to review small game habitat projects. The tour also will stop by timbering projects which are targeted at improving wildlife habitat in an area that was impacted by a tornado, in 2003, which swept though portions of the SGL next to the Kinzua Bridge area. Four-wheel drive is not necessary, so regular vehicles will suffice. The tour will be conducted by Land Management Group Supervisor John Dzemyan.

Clarion County: Oct. 6, State Game Land 330, which encompasses 2,254 acres. At 10 a.m., rain or shine, tour participants will meet at the parking area at the intersection of Mt. Zion Road and Limestone Flat Road northwest of Sligo off Route 58. This will be a driving tour with short walks at planned stops to view habitat management practices, projects and to learn about grassland birds. Although cars can be driven to most of the sites, four-wheel drive vehicles with high ground clearance are preferred for those stops inside the SGL on the gated, interior roadways.  This tour will take about three to four hours.

“The Seneca Rocks Audubon Society recently donated a 3-point hitch mounted HARDI herbicide sprayer to the PGC’s Food and Cover Corps for use in controlling invasive, woody plant species at State Games Lands 330 in Clarion County.

SGL 330, known locally as ‘The Piney Tract’ or more properly ‘Mount Zion,’ is designated as a Global Important Bird Area, which means that it meets the internationally set standards for supporting a certain portion of a rare bird population.

Unusually large numbers of birds found there include Henslow’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Northern Harriers and Clay-colored sparrows. Henslow’s Sparrows, in particular, are rare and are sought after by bird watchers who have come to SGL 330 from other countries to see them.

From left: Flo McGuire, Seneca Rocks Audubon Society; Sarah Sargent, Audubon Pennsylvania; George Miller, Pennsylvania Game Commission; Ron Montgomery, SRAS; Gary Maxwell, PGC; and Deb Freed, SRAS.