It's official: Elk Visitor Center work underway

People who helped make the Elk Country Visitor Center possible are all smiles as they toss the ceremonial first dirt piles with shovels decorated with elk antlers. They are, from left, Joseph Treadway, RMEF Board of Directors; Rod Triepke, RMEF Chief Operations Officer; Ken Rowe, Elk Country Business Owners Association President, State Representative Dan Surra; Mike DiBerardinis, Secretary of Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Sue Meehl, RMEF Volunteer State Chairwoman; Rodger Fleming, past RMEF Board of Directors and current RMEF Canadian Board of Directors (standing in for Terry Bryant of Wellsboro, RMEF Board of Directors); and Dillion Shields, student, St. Marys Middle School, Helping Hands for Habitat Club President. More than 200 gathered on Winslow Hill in Benezette to break ground for the Pennsylvania Wilds Elk Country Visitor Center, which will be completed by the end of next year.

Organizers expect the $12 million project to become the premier conservation education center in the East.

Rawley Cogan, lands program manager for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), stepped onto the scenic outdoor stage, positioned on the hillside with a backdrop of conifers and hardwoods that flanked the open fields.

"The new visitor center, an 8,420- square-foot 'green' structure, will be positioned just beyond the tree line to my right on this beautiful 245-acre tract of prime land in the heart of Pennsylvania elk country," Cogan said.

In 2004, RMEF provided $2 million dollars for the purchase of the property from local residents Jim and Barb Betta.

Cogan described the center as a "cooperative venture that includes a community committed to conserving elk and other wildlife and their habitat for future generations."

Michael DiBerardinis, secretary of the Pa. Dept. Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), called the center "a world class conservation model attached to a unique initiative -- elk. It will build a conservation ethic and will serve local communities, bringing social and economic benefits."

State Rep. Dan Surra marveled at the scenic beauty of the property. "There's no more beautiful place than this commonwealth -- maybe east of the Mississippi River."

Pennsylvania put up $5 million from the capital budget for the construction of the center, establishing a 30-year partnership between DCNR and RMEF.

Benezette Township Supervisor Jim McClusky thanked those involved in the project.

"Life here is going to change," he added.

He also mentioned to Secretary DiBerardinis, "You and I have to talk some more about this. We need some things, like better roads."

Michael Watson, representing the Richard King Mellon Foundation, which contributed $1 million to fund educational exhibits and displays for the Elk Country Visitor Center, quoted from author Richard Louv: "Our children are suffering from 'naturedefi cit disorder' and need to be engaged outdoors."

"They are the future leaders of our country and need to appreciate what they have inherited," Watson said. "They are the stewards for future generations."

Eight steel shovels decorated with elk antlers were used in the groundbreaking by individuals representing organizations that made this project possible.

The project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2009.

In addition to large windows looking out onto the elk range, the center will feature large projection screens with surround-sound and special effects immersing the visitors. A former Walt Disney World designer has been contracted to develop the attractions.