Pennsylvania Elk Watching and Nature Tourism Project

BENEZETTE -- Officials from four major state agencies were in Benezette yesterday to announce the formation of operation "Elk Patrol," a cooperative effort designed to relieve some of the problems in the elk range.

Pennsylvania now boasts one of the largest elk herds east of the Mississippi, comprising around six hundred animals. Conservation spearheaded by the state has brought dramatic results as the elk herd thrives. Yet with these gains have come significant challenges. For example, foraging elk love to visit agricultural lands for the free and succulent provender; farmers who depend on healthy crops for their livelihood have not taken kindly to the visitations.

In a far-sighted decision to deal with these issues in a pro-active, planned, and balanced way, the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission and the USDA Forest Service have formed a partnership to fund a strategic plan for the future management and interpretation of the elk herd. This is an extremely important project not only as it relates to elk, but also as it concerns the development of nature tourism in the Alleghenies. Pennsylvania stands to turn this project into a model for community-based sustainable development that will have much broader application than the counties that make up the elk herd’s range.

Rebounding elk populations and increasing numbers of visitors have put various pressures on the 835-square mile range that supports the herd. Improving wildlife habitat on public lands, as well as educating visitors about the elk’s conservation needs, will help alleviate some detrimental impacts. Visitors from urban areas consider the herd a tremendous attraction, yet the communities in Elk, Cameron, Clinton, Centre, and Clearfield counties have not yet realized meaningful economic benefits from this visitation. Marketing to specific tourist niches stands to provide additional tourism revenue for the communities that are within the range of the herd. This project is designed to provide specific recommendations about ways to educate the public, and how communities might make the most of the tourism traffic generated by these charismatic animals.

Limited elk hunting will begin this fall to provide recreation for hunters and to manage elk population pressures in certain areas of the range; the project will integrate hunting into its educational strategy, and explain the necessity of regular harvests in order to maintain a healthy herd. This educational aspect of the project will require extensive input from hunters, wildlife watchers, agencies, local landowners, and advocacy groups both for hunting and conservation. In an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect, the coordinators of the project will develop guidelines that allow the best possible integration of the broadest number of uses for the elk herd and for the wildlife resources associated with it.

Fermata will be working as the primary consultant for this important project, and over the course of the next year we look forward to working together with Pennsylvanians to develop a blueprint that will integrate the needs of local residents, farmers, hunters, elk-watchers, birders, and other entities that have a stake in the health of the herd.

For a complete description of the elk and nature initiative, please view the project's scope of work.