HUNTING

HUNTING
Deer rendezvous Dec. 2
The 16th annual Deer Hunter's Rendezvous will be held Dec. 2 at Pine Lake, about three miles north of the Ohio Turnpike on state Route 7.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those interested in displaying their harvested deer will be admitted free, those bringing the antlers from a deer harvested this year will pay $1 to enter while admission for others is $3 with children entering for free.
Refreshments, exhibits and raffles also will be available.
Hunters are also being asked to donate 1 to 2-pound packages of deer meat to be distributed by Sportsmen Against Hunger to the local Rescue Mission.
For more information call (330) 549-5795 or (330) 726-8171.
OHIO
State offers discountsfor the military
COLUMBUS --The Ohio Department of Natural Resources salutes the men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the reserves and the National Guard, with a 10 percent discount on all types of lodging available at Ohio State Parks.
By presenting their current military identification, active members of the military will receive 10 percent off all lodge, cottage and campground stays, except on holidays. Salute The Troops will run through the end of 2002 and cannot be used in combination with other lodging discounts.
For more information regarding Ohio State Parks, call (800) BUCKEYE or (614) 265-7000,or check the web at www.dnr.state.oh.us and link to the state parks & amp; resorts page.
PENNSYLVANIA
Burn ban in place
As a result of ongoing drought conditions in the state, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has extended a ban on burning to include all its properties. The Commission controls through state ownership, lease or easements approximately 33,500 acres of land in the Commonwealth. Open fires are prohibited by regulation on the vast majority of those properties, though users of three properties (Hyner Access, Clinton County; Honey Pot Access, Luzerne County and the Allegheny River State Park Access, Venango County) designated as & quot;primitive access areas & quot; are usually allowed to build small cooking fires. With the prolonged dry conditions in the Commonwealth, however, the ban on fire has been extended to all PFBC properties.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, a total of 55 counties are now under a drought declaration: nine under a drought warning, and 46 under a drought watch. A drought watch is the first of the three drought stages under the state's drought-operating plan. It calls for a voluntary 5-percent reduction of nonessential water use. A drought warning, the second stage, calls for a 10-percent to 15-percent voluntary reduction in water consumption, and a drought emergency, the third and most severe stage, imposes mandatory restrictions on water use.