Published in the Courier Express, by Katie Weidonboerner

October 11, 2011

Gov. Tom Corbett visited the Elk Country Visitor Center Thursday to highlight the Pennsylvania Wilds as a tourist destination and to mark the 100-year anniversary of the elk being reintroduced into the region.

“Unique tourist destinations like the Elk Country Visitor Center support Pennsylvania’s tourism industry and help create and sustain local jobs,” Corbett said. “Attendance at the center has grown to 200,000 tourists annually, each spending money and supporting local small businesses.”

While not the first time the governor has traveled to the region, Thursday was the first time he paid a visit to the elk herd.

Fall is the peak season for viewing elk in the Pennsylvania Wilds because the “rut,” or mating season, occurs.

Thursday the parking lot at the center was full and hundreds of people wandered the grounds to see the elk.

Corbett saw a herd of 38 cows and calves and one bull on the ground, perused the displays at the center and took a horsedrawn wagon ride through some of the grounds at the center.

The center is nestled on 245 acres owned by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in Benezette. The non-profit Keystone Elk Country Alliance, a Pennsylvania-based wildlife conservation organization, operates the center using money raised from the private sector.

Corbett lauded partnerships such as the one between DCNR and KECA as “the wave of the future.”

“I think it’s the future of the industry, not just in Pennsylvania, but around the country,” Corbett said.

The governor’s wife, Susan, has been involved in the Gettysburg Foundation, a public-private partnership that raised $120 million to create a museum in Gettysburg.

“Now, while there is this (federal) shutdown at the federal site, the museum and visitor center in Gettysburg is still opening and greeting visitors,” she said.

The DCNR is finalizing a 35-year agreement with KECA, which has doubled its staff by creating nine jobs to help operate the center.

The center’s gift shop provides more than 60 small local vendors and artisans with a new market opportunity.

The number of lodging establishments near the center has almost doubled.

Three wineries with elk themes have popped up and local stores and restaurants continue to expand.

(Katie Weidonboerner, "Governor visits Elk Co.," Courier Express, 10/11/2013)