Flying along

Students who participate in Conservation Club at Cranberry High School released home grown pheasants in late October and early November. 

Cranberry High School’s very own Conservation Club has about one hundred, thirty members. The Conservation Club is run by Driver’s Education and seventh grade science teacher Dustin Wenner. 

A couple of years ago, the Conservation Club built its very own pheasant pen. For the past two years, the Conservation Club has received pheasants to raise throughout the summer and release in nearby areas in the fall.

In late April of 2018, the Conservation Club received between five hundred to six hundred birds delivered from Mantahongo Game Farm. Mantahongo Game Farm is located in Eastern Pennsylvania and raises 350,000 birds each year. 

Over the summer, members of the club stopped by the pen a couple days a week and check on the birds. The club only lost about ten percent of the birds. 

In fall of 2018, members of the Conservation Club were taken to Rockland, Fryburg, Game Lands 45, and Emlenton Airport areas to release pheasants. Thirty to forty birds were released at each area. 

Chuck Weaver, a member of Outdoor Organization Clarion County Sportsmen for Youth, had joined in on the fun for releasing the pheasants. Without the help of him and the organization, it wouldn't have been possible to have the birds and do what the club does with them today.