BENEZETTE — On March 26, there was standing room only in the Jack and Gene Parker Outdoor Classroom near the Elk Country Visitor Center for a discussion about Pennsylvania’s elk herd.
State Representative Michael Armanini welcomed everyone and said that taxpayers are paying for the beautiful facility they are in, and that Benezette is officially known as the “Moose Capital of Pennsylvania,” which is a big draw for tourists. The problem is that areas that were once very rich in elk now have very few elk.
He also said he is working with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and the Keystone Elk Country Alliance (KECA) to “revitalize the prime elk viewing areas of Winslow Hill and Denz Run and provide access to large numbers of people. “We’re looking for ways to restore the beauty of moose so people can see them,” he said. True outdoorsmen and sportsmen can come and see its beauty. ”
The first Benezette resident I spoke to was Chuck Brotherton, owner of McDerby Castle and Elkview. “I came here from New Jersey about 15 years ago,” he said, “and one of the reasons I came here was because Benezette was rich in wildlife. The group I came with called the area ‘the little Yellowstone of the East’ because it was so rich.”
“I bought all the real estate (that I could) and spent tens of thousands of dollars to live here on that basis, and now I feel like that doesn’t exist. When I first came here, I used to go out with KECA and Rocky Mountain to trap and tag elk. We could catch 10 or 15 elk on a weekend, but now they’re having a hard time finding one each.”
“KECA has done a great job of bringing in students and families with exhibits and films. You sit there for hours, drive around the roads, and you don’t see a single moose. Yes, some people see moose. They don’t see moose. “When I first came here, I drove my 80-year-old mother there, and we could see anywhere from 50 to 100 moose. ”
Surrounding counties have started distributing pamphlets with GPS locations where moose can be found, but there are no more moose in Benezette. He opined that there are 100,000 fewer visitors to the visitor center than before the pandemic, and called for some roads near feeding areas to be opened to visitors so that seniors can see the elk without getting out of their cars.
Another speaker questioned whether conservation-minded organizations such as the Bennetts Valley Sportsman Club and Pheasants Forever, which have the equipment, volunteers, and skills to establish supplementary elk feeding grounds on private land, would be allowed to do so. It was suggested that organizations could band together to obtain large quantities of lime and seeds to establish food plots that were more easily accessible than many of the already established food plots. It was noted that most of the food plots planted and managed by KECA and Game Commissions are in remote areas with limited access, and the problem of small numbers of elk being easily visible from the road, as was the case several years ago, has not been resolved.
Peggy DeCarli has owned the Medix Hotel for 27 years and said moose used to be common in the hotel’s parking lot and the small store across the street. Those were the attractions that drew people to the area, and they patronized her establishment and other area businesses. She asked if the only place moose can currently be observed is near remote and largely inaccessible food plots managed by game commissions and KECA.
Another speaker is wildlife photographer Bruce Watkavich, who is not from the area but has been coming here monthly for about 20 years. “When I came here 20 years ago, you had to come all the way to Benezette to find a moose, because that’s where the cows were. Bulls would come from 10 or 12 miles away because this was where the cows were. This was when the herds were a few hundred, and they… If you wanted to see them, you had to come here. These animals migrate for many other reasons: to be near food and water sources, or to get away from excess humans.”Without noise and contact, they will go where they want to go, but they are still there. ” Watkavich noted that last year’s prolonged drought caused bulls to move to better pasture. He concluded, “We know we want to have a lot of (moose) in the Benezet area, but we’re also seeing the elk spread out. Did we push tourists too far and expect too much that the elk have to come here? The moose move around looking for food and water, so the moose aren’t always here, but the moose are still in this area.”
Another speaker was Terry Moore, who is in his 80s and said he has lived in the Benezette area since 1959 and has seen many changes over the years. He praised the efforts of KECA and the Game Commission to reclaim stripped land and convert it into grazing land.
“But the biggest change here is that you can’t feed moose in your yard anymore. I’ve been feeding moose for 30 years, like a lot of my neighbors, but when I drive by the campground or the store, We saw moose. There were always a few running around. They were here because people were feeding them. If you want to try them, go to Wyoming.”
Moore noted that the elk he fed were always healthy and did not develop chronic wasting disease (CWD) even when fed in groups. He pointed out that feeding moose on private land resulted in a $500 fine because at some point the moose became domesticated and dependent on humans for food, which is why people driving around Benezet no longer see the moose.
Another resident recalled a rally he attended 30 years ago. There, people complained that there were too many moose in their yards, rubbing their antlers against cars. Because there were no food plots available, the moose ate grass, shrubs, and garden crops on private land. People demanded that the moose be taken elsewhere because it had become a destructive nuisance. They wanted the moose gone, and they wanted the tourists gone. Game commissions responded by creating more habitat over larger areas, and moose were moved away from roads and homes.
Elk biologist Jeremy Banfield said the PGC does not recommend transporting elk from one area to another due to the risk of spreading chronic wasting disease.
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