PennLive outdoors reporter Marcus Schneck was the recipient of a posthumous award from the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.
Schneck, who died in December of 2022, was one of several people honored at the PPFF’s 14th annual Parks and Forests Awards Banquet on May 16.
Schneck spent his journalism career in advocacy and education for Pennsylvania parks, wildlife, and the outdoors, including 27 years at the Patriot-News, where he was the outdoor writer and columnist. He also wrote more than two dozen books and contributed to many outdoor publications as a writer, editor, and photographer.
The event, held at Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, is a fundraiser event for the nonprofit group, and an opportunity to salute “the people and places that make Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests (and, indeed, all of Penn’s Woods) such a special experience,” according to the PPFF’s website.
Schneck was honored with the Cliff Jones Keystone Legacy Award, which recognizes an outstanding contribution to the protection and/or enhancement to the park and forest system in Pennsylvania.
“Over the 27 years that he wrote for us [Marcus] amassed a devoted readership literally in the millions, from Pennsylvania and far beyond,” Cate Barron, president of Pa. Media Group said during the event. “He was a champion of the environment, he lived by the credo, ‘Leave no trace behind.’ And while that applied to the great outdoors, it didn’t apply to the man himself. Marcus left a lasting trace in all our hearts.”
Schneck’s wife, Jill Caravan, and son, Casey Caravan Schneck, were in attendance to accept the award.
Other individuals chosen for awards included Mike Piaskowski, outdoor corps coordinator of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, who received the Joseph Ibberson Government Award, and Jack Stefferud of the Natural Lands organization, who received the PPFF’s President’s Award. Awards were also given out to several organizations, volunteers, and businesses in various areas.