Keystone Elk Country Alliance To Decide On Wednesday About Labor Day Weekend Opening

Elk Country Visitor Center: June 16, 2010-photo by W.Hill

There has been a lot of speculation as to when the Elk Country Visitors Center near Benezette, Pa. will open and today Paul Staniszewski, a Juried PA Wilds Artisan, sent the latest news concerning the center and the opening date.

Mr. Staniszewski reports, "I went up to Benezette this morning (Monday) and saw that a black iron gate like the one going to the Homestead has now been installed at the entrance to the visitors center.... Also, a cinder block base has been constructed to hold the Elk Country Visitors Center sign.... The people at the visitors center tell me that they will decide on Wednesday if they will open for Labor Day week".

The opening date will be posted on The Keystone Elk Country Alliance Website. Be sure to click on the Visitor Center tab.

Paul also reports seeing several bulls and hearing a lot of bugling on Winslow Hill as the rut gets underway.

Pennsylvania Bull Elk: photo courtesy of Paul Stanszewski-all rights reserved

Paul has also heard  that the buildings at the Gilbert Viewing Area are scheduled to be razed very soon as the reclamation project in that area comes to a close.

 Gilbert Buildings Likely Scheduled For Demolition: Photo by W.Hill-Winter 2006

I have referred to this as "The Gilbert Viewing Area" for years, but this is not the official name at present.  It was called The Gilbert Farm when I first went to Elk County in 1995 as it was owned by Kenny Gilbert who spent summers there and winters in Florida.  In 2000 the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation partnered with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to purchase the land.  Later stewardship of the property was transferred to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. At the time of purchase , it was simply referred to as "The Gilbert" and it seemed likely that it would be called "the Gilbert Viewing Area", yet when a sign was erected last year, it was named "The Porcupine Hollow-Winslow Hill Viewing Area".

Porcupine Run-Winslow Hill Elk Viewing Area Sign: photo by W.Hill

We have no other confirmation that the demolition is scheduled, but it is consistent with Game Commission policy as in most cases he PGC does not maintain buildings on lands which it acquire, unless they are suited for a specific need.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Elk Rescue-One Year Later

Shortly over one year ago on the morning of September 18, 2009, a young bull elk was grazing and browsing in a lawn in the village of Benezette, Pennsylvania, with never a hint that in two days he would be involved in an incident that would single him out for attention and result in him being tagged with the nickname, "Swinger".

A Soon To Be Famous Young Bull Elk Sept 18, 2009-photo by W.Hill

I was loading my vehicle for the day's photo shoot at the crack of dawn on September 20, 2009, when fellow photographer Brad Myers of Bradley Myers Photography stopped by and told me that a bull elk was caught in a swing set at the old Benezette school, which is now the municipal building.  He had already spoken to someone about reporting the incident to Pennsylvania Game Commission Officials, so we proceeded to the scene and documented the rescue.  While this incident was reported in depth last year, I will re-post the short video which I made of the rescue in case someone has not seen it before.


Pennsylvania Elk Rescue from Willard C. Hill on Vimeo.

The pedicle, was broken loose from the skull and while it seemed likely that the animal would fully recover from the inident, there was a chance that future antlers that grew from that particular pedicel would be deformed.

Luckily the animal did fully recover and Elk Biologist Aide, Mark Gritzer who played a significant part in the rescue effort photographed him recently and was kind enough to share a photograph with us.

"Swinger"-One Year Later -photo: courtesy of Mark Gritzer used by Permission

There does not appear to be any significant deformity to the rack, but the velvet on the brow tine is very light colored.  At first I thought this was reflected glare from a strong ray of sunlight, but I looked again at the e-mail from Mr. Gritzer and he points out that this photo is, "displaying the white velvet", so it appears that this  is in fact caused by last year's injury.

I wish to thank Mr. Gritzer very much for sharing the photograph with us.

Elk Country Visitor Center To Open September 9th?

Elk Country Visitor Center Under Construction June 16, 2010-photo by W.Hill

Rumors abounded in Pennsylvania elk country during the late 1990's and early 2000's about the future construction of a visitors center for elk tourism on Winslow Hill. At that time the favored spot was in the area known as “The Saddle". This is the area on Winslow Hill, near the Gilbert Farm, which has been the site of a reclamation project for most of this decade. Most assumed that a visitors center would be built and operated by The Pennsylvania Game Commission, but subsequent events proved this to not be the case.

Perhaps the initial happening in a string of events that was to change the situation entirely began in 2002 when Pennsylvania Game Commission Elk Biologist Rawland, “Rawley” Cogan resigned his position as elk biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and went to work for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation as Northeast Lands Program Manager. The next important step was when the RMEF purchased the 245 ace Betta Tree Farm on the lower reaches of Winslow Hill, which became known as Elk Mountain Homestead. It is unclear as to whether the property was purchased with the goal of building a visitor center, but within a short time of the acquisition the possibility was openly discussed and the RMEF Newsletter “Wapiti” featured an article by Julie Cowan in the winter 2007 edition, “Elk foundation, Pennsylvania DCNR Announce Partnership for Visitor Center” , which verified that this was to be the official course of action.

The official groundbreaking for the construction of the center was on September 25, 2008, but actual construction did not begin until late May of 2009 (Source-May 20, 2009 issue DCNR Newsletter “Resource”)

According to the 2007 article by Ms. Cowan, the center was to be open by the fall of 2009, but this was not to be and the project met a major set-back instead when the RMEF abruptly withdrew from the project in September 2009, and transferred ownership of the property to DCNR. It was soon back on track; however, with the founding of the Keystone Elk Country Alliance, which stepped in to fill the void left by the departure of the RMEF and named Cogan as project Manager for the Visitor Center.

"Rawley Cogan" Project Manager For Visitor Center Addresses "Wild About Elk Workshop" June 16, 2010-photo by W.Hill

 The actual opening date has been difficult to pin down, as The Keystone Elk Country Alliance Website has not given a firm opening date until very recently. It now appears that the center should open no later than September 9, 2009 according to Paul Staniszewski, a Juried PA Wilds Artist, who specializes in macro-photography and the production of Floral Note Cards. Mr Staniszewski has been engaged to provide products for the Visitor Center gift shop, and recently received official notification that the “for sure” opening date is September 9th, while Visitor Center Officials are still hoping for sooner if possible. This is further confirmed by the recent updating of the The Keystone Elk Country Alliance Website's Visitor Center Page which now says, “anticipated to open September 9, 2010.

"Wild About Elk" Workshop Participants Observe Elk Near Visitor Center Parking Area-June 16, 2010- photo by W.Hill

I hope to take a closer look at the impact the Visitor Center may have on the Benezette area in the next installment, which should be posted within the next few days.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Pennsylvania Elk-The Velvet Is Shed: 2010

In last week's Camera Critters, I posted photos from years past of Pennsylvania Bull Elk in various stages of the velvet shedding process.  This was in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country this past week.

Two of the bulls that I photographed this week served to illustrate the point that there are no hard and fast rules in nature.  In last week's post I stated , "once the process begins, it is usually completed in a day or so", but the most commonly seen bulls this week were clear exceptions to the rule.


This first animal featured today had a small strip of loose velvet dangling from one antler and small blood spots throughout the velvet, when I sighted him on Tuesday morning. The small strip of loose velvet was gone by that evening, but little else was changed.  I saw him several times during the trip and when I photographed him for the final time on Friday morning he looked much the same as he did at the time of my first encounter with him..

6x6 Bull In Early Stages Of Shedding Velvet

In most cases, once the velvet cracks and dangles in strips, the bulls rub trees, saplings, and the ground in an effort to dislodge it, but the largest bull I photographed seemed to have an aversion to doing this as he had long strips of dried velvet dangling from his antlers throughout the week.  I was around him for extensive periods of time on several occasions, but not once did he rub his antlers against anything.

Dried Velvet Hanging In Strips

While the long range forecast for the trip, called for hot and humid weather with a lot of clouds and showers, it actually turned out to be clear and beautiful much of the time, with only fluffy white cumulus clouds in the sky, which resulted in some spectacular sunsets and I can think of few better ways to end a day afield than by photographing the fiery show that nature provides as the sun drops below the horizon.

Elk Country Sunset

For more Camera Critters photographs, Click Here!

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill