The Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 203 are
Pennsylvania State Game Lands The Pennsylvania State Game Lands (SGL) are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hun ...
located in
Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Geography
The Game Lands consists of in two parcels located approximately northwest of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. The larger parcel is located in
Franklin Park and
Marshall Township. The smaller parcel is located in
Springdale Township. The western parcel falls within the East Branch Big Sewickley Creek
watershed and
Interstate 79 runs north/south approximately to the east. The eastern parcel falls within the Yutes Run watershed and
Pennsylvania Route 28
Pennsylvania Route 28 (PA 28) is a major state highway which runs for from Anderson Street in Pittsburgh to U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in Brockway in Pennsylvania. From Pittsburgh to Kittanning it is a limited access expressway named the ...
passes just to the south. Both watersheds are part of the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
basin. The Game Lands consists of steep hills elevations range from along the streams to on the hilltops.
[https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/advanced-viewer/ "The National Map" retrieved 24 September 2018][Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 203](_blank)
retrieved 24 September 2018
Statistics
The Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 203 consists of in two parcels. It was entered into the
Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
on 1 April 1990 as identification number 1208078. Its elevation is listed as .
Amenities
SGL 203 features a practice pistol range and separate rifle range with 25, 50, and 100 yard targets. Both ranges feature handicap accessible parking and shooting tables.
Biology
SGL 203 is 94% forested dominated by
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
and
Mesophytic Mesophytes are terrestrial plants which are neither adapted to particularly dry nor particularly wet environments. An example of a mesophytic habitat would be a rural temperate meadow, which might contain Solidago, goldenrod, Trifolium, clover, Leuc ...
and other eastern
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
trees. Hunting includes
White-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
(''Odocoileus virginianus''),
Common pheasant
The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'', "pheasant". The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for "of Colchis" (modern day Geor ...
(''Phasianus colchicus''),
Eastern cottontail
The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America.
Distribution
The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubb ...
rabbit (''Sylvilagus floridanus''),
Eastern gray squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
(''Sciurus carolinensis''). Fur game includes
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
(''Canis latrans''),
Gray fox
The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littor ...
(''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''),
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...
(''Vulpes Vulpes''),
American mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...
(''Neovison vison''),
Muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus''), and
Raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
(''Procyon lotor'').
See also
*
Pennsylvania State Game Lands The Pennsylvania State Game Lands (SGL) are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hun ...
References
{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
203