Pennsylvania
125 Pennsylvania Trout Streams That Deserve a Conservation Status Update | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
TRCP’s Colorado staff recaps some of this year’s conservation highlights from the Centennial State
As we near the midway point of 2024, TRCP’s Colorado staff takes a look back on this year’s conservation accomplishments and future opportunities.
2024 in Colorful Colorado
The TRCP, alongside other great partner organizations, submitted comments to the Bureau of Land Management regarding big game habitat conservation and energy development in Colorado in response to the BLM’s draft Big Game Corridors Resource Management Plan Amendment, and the BLM’s draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement in February and April respectively. THANK YOU to those who submitted comments through TRCP’s comment portal and calls to action related to those two very important, ongoing planning efforts.
Additionally, we provided the Forest Service with feedback on their final Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests Plan revision in February. We advocated for important big game management policies within highest priority habitats and Wildlife Management Areas, and for closer management and conservation of the GMUG’s bighorn sheep herds. Bighorn sheep have since been added to the Forest’s list of Species of Conservation Concern.
The Colorado state legislative session ended last week and a few highlights for hunters and anglers include:
Senate Bill 2024 – 026, Agriculture & Natural Resources Public Engagement Requirement was signed into law on May 1 and requires Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Department of Agriculture, and Colorado Water Conservation Board commissioners to participate in two public meetings per year, specifically to facilitate discussion with the constituencies for which they were appointed to represent. For example, Parks and Wildlife commissioners appointed to represent sportspersons will make themselves available for public discussions, questions, and feedback twice per year outside of normal Commission meetings. Please take advantage of these opportunities to build relationships with those who represent your interests in important policy decisions! Thank you, Senators Roberts and Will, and Representatives McLachlan and Catlin for sponsoring this legislation.
Senate Bill 2024 – 212, Local Govs Renewable Energy Projects passed the legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature. This renewable energy and transmission development study bill will require the Colorado Energy Office to submit a report to the general assembly by September 30, 2025, that evaluates counties’ regulatory processes for permitting renewable energy and transmission projects and the impacts these projects have on wildlife resources. It also requires that the Colorado Energy Office provides the public with the opportunity to review and comment on the report before it’s finalized. We will continue to partner with other stakeholders, track this process closely, and advocate for wildlife habitat avoidance as well as minimization and mitigation of adverse impacts from energy development. It’s important for Colorado to utilize diverse energy resources without sacrificing wildlife populations, migration habitats, or the hunting, angling, and conservation values that TRCP members love so much. Thank you, Senators Hansen and Fenberg, and Representatives Brown and McCormick for sponsoring the bill.
Senate Bill 2024 – 171, Restoration of Wolverines passed the legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature. This bill authorizes reintroduction of historically native wolverines following thorough analysis, public process, and coordination between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Colorado law requires the legislature to first approve any efforts by CPW to reintroduce species. We support this science-based, measured approach to species reintroduction. Thank you, Senators Will and Roberts, and Representatives McLauchlan and Mauro for sponsoring the bill and incorporating lessons learned from past restoration efforts.
House Bill 2024 – 1379, Regulate Dredge & Fill Activities in State Waters passed the legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature. The bill directs the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to establish a state-level wetland and stream permit program that safeguards these important habitats for fish and wildlife. The legislation was introduced to address a gap in regulatory protections for wetlands and streams following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA which drastically reduced federal protections for most wetlands and many streams under the Clean Water Act. Colorado is among the first states to pass legislation creating state-level safeguards. Thank you, Senators Roberts and Kirkmeyer, and Representatives McCluskie and McCormick for sponsoring this important conservation legislation.
Science-based wildlife management by our state’s wildlife experts is critical to maintaining ecosystem balance and quality opportunities for hunting, angling, and outdoors pursuits for generations to come.
In the second half of 2024 we are looking forward to:
- The US Forest Service’s final record of decision related to the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests. We are optimistic that this will include habitat conservation and connectivity-oriented forest management direction within newly defined Wildlife Management Areas as well as enhanced big game species-specific conservation and management direction. We hope the plan will be finalized this summer so implementation can begin, and we thank all of you who’ve commented on the GMUG Forests Plan Revision over the years!
- The Colorado BLM’s proposed final draft of its statewide Big Game Corridors Resource Management Plan Amendment being announced sometime in late summer or fall. Thank you again to all who submitted comments to the Colorado BLM regarding avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating adverse impacts to key big game habitats from oil and gas development on public lands!
- The BLM’s proposed final draft of its Programmatic Solar Environmental Impact Statement highlighting areas worthy of excluding from development vs. areas where lower-impact development should be prioritized across 11 Western states. The BLM is still reviewing the many comments they received on their draft Solar PEIS. We look forward to reviewing changes made when the final draft is released, and hope they incorporate TRCP and partner organizations’ request that the BLM exclude the highest-priority big game habitat on BLM land in Colorado from utility-scale solar development.
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, Regional Caucus, and Sportspersons Caucus meetings, which are all open to the public and include important discussions relevant to hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation across Colorado. See the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Partnership events calendar or Colorado Parks and Wildlife website for more information.
- Helping ensure Colorado voters understand Colorado’s long history of responsible and highly successful species and ecosystem restoration and management, and have access to the latest data and science before signing to support, or potentially voting on ballot initiatives that will impact hunting and angling. Science-based wildlife management by our state’s wildlife experts is critical to maintaining ecosystem balance and quality opportunities for hunting, angling, and outdoors pursuits for generations to come. Please check out and share: https://wildlifedeservebetter.com/
Thank you for staying up to date on Colorado-based issues that impact hunters, anglers, fish, wildlife, and wildlife-based businesses across the state. I hope you’ll take action on important issues with us again as we move forward.
The TRCP is your no-B.S. resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
Photo Credit: Christian Collins
HARRISBURG — A new task force under Pennsylvania’s Department of State has been working since February to hunt down AI chatbots that may be misleading users into believing the bots are licensed professionals.
Last week, the Shapiro administration filed what it said was the first lawsuit to stem from its AI investigations and the first enforcement action of its kind announced by a governor in the United States. Pennsylvania officials indicated there could be more to come.
The high-profile litigation comes as lawmakers across the country are pursuing, and in some cases enacting, legislation to address concerns brought on by the growing artificial intelligence industry — from banning the creation of sexual images of minors to requiring age verification for all users. A number of proposals from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s most recent budget address await action in the legislature.
The administration’s lawsuit alleges that software known as Character.AI, which creates fictional personalities for users to interact with, posed as a licensed doctor and offered medical advice to a state investigator, violating state law governing the practice of medicine. The suit was filed by Pennsylvania’s State Board of Medicine.
“We will continue to take action to protect the public from misleading or unlawful practices, whether they come from individuals or emerging technologies,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said in a statement following the Character.AI lawsuit.
Shapiro made a similar promise in a statement, saying Pennsylvania will continue “holding bad actors accountable and setting clear guardrails so people can use new technology responsibly.”
The lawsuit says it stems from an investigation in which an employee with the Department of State created an account with the service and began a dialogue with “Emilie” — an AI-generated character the software described as a “Doctor of psychiatry.”
The character allegedly claimed it went to Imperial College London, had been practicing for seven years, and is licensed in Pennsylvania.
“In fact, I did a stint in Philadelphia for a while,” it told the investigator, according to the lawsuit.
The software also provided what the lawsuit said was a fake license number.
Those claims, the Shapiro administration argues, trick users into believing they are receiving medical advice from a licensed practitioner.
“Pennsylvanians deserve to know who — or what — they are interacting with online, especially when it comes to their health,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We will not allow companies to deploy AI tools that mislead people into believing they are receiving advice from a licensed medical professional.”
The lawsuit seeks for Character Technologies Inc. (developer of Character.AI) to “cease and desist from engaging in the unlawful practice of medicine and surgery.”
A Character.AI spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday that the company’s “highest priority is the safety and well-being of our users.” The spokesperson said that before the lawsuit, Character.AI already featured disclaimers warning that its AI characters are not real, and that they “should be treated as fiction.”
The spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Pennsylvania’s lawsuit is not the first Character Technologies has faced. At least one case was brought by the parent of a minor who died by suicide. The company last year adopted a policy to ban minors from engaging “in open-ended chat with AI on our platform.”
The Federal Trade Commission last year also opened an inquiry into the company, along with six other chatbot providers, regarding how they “measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens,” according to an agency news release.
It’s unclear what led Pennsylvania regulators to specifically investigate Character.AI. A Department of State spokesperson said the source of the complaint was “confidential.”
Shapiro told CNN, one of several national media outlets that covered the novel lawsuit, that his administration “challenged” the Department of State to conduct these types of investigations “to go and use this technology and see what kind of risks it posed” to Pennsylvanians.
Some details about the effort, which Shapiro first teased in his February budget pitch, are not yet public. Members of the task force are not disclosed online, and the Department of State did not answer questions from Spotlight PA asking for their names or how they were selected. A Department of State spokesperson said the task force consists of 12 of its employees.
As part of the AI fraud initiative, Pennsylvania is crowdsourcing tips on what software the state should investigate through its “Unlicensed Practice by a Chatbot” complaint system and hotline. According to the Department of State, it has received 18 complaints since it launched in February.
Pennsylvania’s moves against AI companies come as they rapidly grow their user bases nationwide, especially children and teenagers.
According to a survey last year from Common Sense Media, a California-based child safety nonprofit, more than half of teenagers access AI platforms at least a few times per month. One-third said they use or view the software as a tool to socialize, including for conversation or relationship practice, emotional support, role-playing, friendships, and romantic interactions.
At least five states have enacted laws restricting chatbots or requiring disclosures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California, for example, requires companies to disclose to children that they are interacting with AI. Pennsylvania is not one of them, but the state medical board alleges Character.AI’s actions violated existing law.
In his February budget address, Shapiro called on the General Assembly to take action on artificial intelligence. He urged lawmakers to prohibit chatbots from creating sexually explicit or violent content of minors, mandate that developers require age verification from users, and detect when children mention self-harm or violence. He also wants companies to frequently notify users they’re not interacting with a human.
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Lawmakers have not yet adopted those proposals.
House Communications & Technology Committee Chair Joe Ciresi (D., Montgomery) said the body’s staff is “constantly” meeting with Shapiro’s office to discuss how lawmakers should address growing concerns from the public regarding AI.
Ciresi’s counterpart in the GOP-controlled state Senate, Tracy Pennycuick (R., Montgomery), did not respond to questions about the Character.AI lawsuit, Pennsylvania’s AI Task Force, or her staff’s coordination with Shapiro.
Two years ago, Shapiro signed a bill banning ownership or distribution of AI-generated sexual images of children and non-consenting adults, which Pennycuick had sponsored. Last year, he signed another Pennycuick bill criminalizing the use of AI to create a nonconsensual “digital likeness” (including deepfakes) to “defraud or injure” another person.
Pennycuick’s now pushing for legislation that would require disclosures and restrictions for chatbots when they interact with children. In the legislative memo, Pennycuick pointed to past lawsuits filed against chatbot developers to argue “heartbreaking cases underscore the urgent need for safeguards to protect children from unsafe and unvetted AI systems.” Her proposal passed the state Senate in March but has not advanced through committee in the House.
Lawmakers have also been working to address another aspect of the AI industry, the growth of data centers and backlash to them in some communities. In Shapiro’s February budget address, he said, “no sector of our country’s economy is growing faster than data centers and artificial intelligence.” He announced incentives for data center developers to follow stricter environmental and transparency standards.
BEFORE YOU GO… If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. This story was funded in part thanks to the support of the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund. Learn more about how we are supported here.
Hersheypark in Pennsylvaniacould be forced to close this summer amid a dispute between the site’s operators and union employees, according to a report.
The amusement park is scheduled to open seven days a week starting May 21 in a shift from its weekend-only operation before the summer, despite a looming vote among employees about whether to go on strike.
Over 200 union maintenance employees at Hersheypark, The Hotel Hershey and Giant Center rejected a contract offer from Hershey Entertainment & Resorts on May 7, according to Inside the Magic. The park’s operators described the proposal as their “last, best and final” offer.
Over a three-day period this week, employees will vote on whether to strike after rejecting the offer, which is the third from the park’s operators. A strike could close the park just in time for the start of the busy summer season when families head on vacation.
The list of employees considering going on strike includes ride mechanics, electricians, plumbers, welders, painters, machinists, utilities technicians, carpenters, garage auto mechanics and sign artists.
In mid-March, the union and Hershey Entertainment & Resorts agreed to extend a former contract for 60 days to allow for continued negotiations.
According to Inside the Magic, union workers are seeking fair wage increases, more affordable care plans and higher pay premiums for less-desirable shifts. The union has also said that it will reject new contract offers that lower professional standards, devalue skilled trades or open the door to lower wages in maintenance roles in the future.
The Independent has contacted Hershey Entertainment & Resorts for comment about the possible strike.
Hersheypark, located 15 miles east of Harrisburg, is the largest amusement park in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1906, the 121-acre site boasts more than 70 rides, a water park with 17 water attractions and an 11-acre North American Wildlife Park, according to Hersheypark’s website.
It’s named for and themed in conjunction with the popular candy company.
However, a different park in the Keystone State was named as the top amusement park in the U.S. on TripAdvisor’s Best of the Best list.
It was Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, 42 miles north-northeast of Harrisburg, that topped the list. In doing so, the little-known park was ranked higher than Dollywood, Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure that also made the top 5.
“It’s got it all: roller coasters, kid-friendly rides (bumper cars, a haunted mansion), swimming, camping, a mining museum, and even a championship 18-hole golf course,” TripAdvisor wrote. “The accommodating staff, clean facilities, and fun attractions make for a memorable family-friendly visit.”
Knoebels is the U.S.’s largest free-admission park, although tickets for individual rides cost a fee.
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