Reposted from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published 23 August 2025

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, along with hiking and land conservation groups, officially opened a new game land in Indiana Township on Friday.

Large, new parcels of public land for hikers and hunters are a rarity in Allegheny County.

The game land’s grand opening is special because of its proximity to Pittsburgh and location in Allegheny County, which is among the top counties for hunting licenses, Stephen Smith, executive director of the game commission, said during the grand opening ceremony.

“We know it won’t be just hunters and trappers who use this land, even though that is the primary use of this land for wildlife,” he said.

Since a short section of the Rachel Carson Trail runs through the new game land, Mr. Smith said he expects more hikers and others to visit the site. He said he hopes they will gain a greater appreciation for the game commission and the hunters and trappers who fund the agency.

“One mile of a valuable trail is now protected,” said Paul Sauers, president of the board of the Rachel Carson Trail Conservancy.

The 266-acre wooded parcel is adjacent to Emmerling Community Park, located off Cove Run Road in Indiana Township.

The new tract of land is part of Game Lands 203, adding to existing land in Franklin Park and Marshall.

“In Allegheny County, we don’t have a ton of land left, and we have to work to protect what we have,” said state Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel.

“When you talk to hunters from Allegheny County, the No. 1 thing that I hear is they need more access, and we are making that happen today.”

Also attending Friday’s grand opening was state Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Carnegie, chair of the House Game and Fisheries Committee.

The PA Turnpike can be seen in the distance from the new state game lands in Indiana Township. (Lucy Schaly/Post-Gazette)

The new site is open to the public and is accessed from a parking lot along Cove Run Road above Emmerling Community Park as well as the Rachel Carson Trail.

The undeveloped wooded game land features deep ravines, multiple species of native trees, deer, turkey, and other game animals, said Sgt. Dan Puhala, a game warden and the game commission’s land management group supervisor for Allegheny and other counties.

“It’s not out of the realm of possibility to see a black bear,” he said.

The new parcel will appeal to anglers as well because Deer Creek, which the state Fish and Boat Commission stocks with trout, cuts through the property, Sgt. Puhala added.

The commission will soon post white flags to mark the game land’s boundaries, he said. More plans for site access are in the works.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy for years had wanted to protect that tract of land, which surrounds a one-mile section of the 46-mile-long Carson trail, Steve Mentzer, vice president of the conservancy, has said.

The conservancy brought the project to the Allegheny Land Trust, which jumped at the chance to preserve the land parcel, said Carrie Gilbert, president and CEO of the trust.

“This project represents everything we drive toward in land protection in Allegheny County,” she said.

The Allegheny Land Trust raised $2.6 million to buy the land known as the Deer Creek Conservation Project earlier this year.

Contributors included the Game Commission, the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy and others, along with 140 residents in surrounding communities.

The land trust immediately transferred the land to the game commission earlier this year for permanent conservation and management for wildlife habitat and wildlife-focused recreation.

The land preservation will conserve the quality of Deer Creek by absorbing 231 million gallons of rainwater annually and maintaining air quality by sequestering 1.13 million pounds of carbon and removing 20,000 pounds of other pollutants annually, according to the land trust.

Anyone present on State Game Lands, excluding shooting ranges, between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15, must wear 250 square inches of fluorescent orange “on their head, chest and back, typically in the form of a hat and vest during firearms hunting season,” Sgt. Puhala said.

The commission and others recommend that hikers and their pets also consider wearing orange during the fall hunting season and spring turkey season.

The trail conservancy will work with the game commission to educate hikers on the rules for safely using the trail through the game land, including website posts and signage installed on the trail near the property borders, Mr. Mentzer said.