A state-of-the-art conservation education facility will open next year in Elk County, say the project's proponents, despite the unexpected pullout of its highest-profile supporter, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), based in Missoula, Mont.

In a 2007 agreement signed by RMEF and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the commonwealth pledged $5 million to construct the building, parking and major infrastructure, while RMEF agreed to staff the center for 30 years and to raise $5.6 million toward development of educational displays and an operating endowment. Construction began in May 2009.

But in September 2009, RMEF president and CEO David Allen announced a "new agreement" by which RMEF was transferring its role in the Elk Center's development to DCNR, intimating that the early transfer was his organization's intent all along.

"This project worked much like our standard lands protection project -- we facilitate and fund-raise, then transfer the asset to a public agency better equipped to manage in perpetuity," Allen said. "We've never applied this model to a conservation education facility before, but we're pleased with the outcome."

In a "standard lands protection project," RMEF buys land that is valuable as wildlife habitat and then conveys ownership and management to a state or federal agency, such as the Pennsylvania Game Commission or the DCNR Bureau of Forestry. Though mostly active in Western states, RMEF has acquired about 14,000 acres in Pennsylvania, all of which are now state forest or state game lands, open to the public for hunting, fishing and other low impact outdoor recreation.

However, RMEF had never before indicated that its role in the Elk Visitor Center was temporary, and the transfer leaves the project with about a $2.3 million funding gap for operation and development of interpretive media.

"I was very disappointed at RMEF's decision to pull out of the visitor center project, especially in light of the 30-year agreement between RMEF and DCNR," said Rawley Cogan, who had served as RMEF's Pennsylvania Land Program Manager. He resigned his position with RMEF in the wake of the group's decision to abort its commitment to the project.

"Pennsylvania volunteers had assisted in raising enough funds [about $1.4 million] to enter into production contracts for exhibits and displays, and we had another 10-12 months to raise the endowment and the first year operating costs before the doors were scheduled to open," Cogan said.

The Elk Country Visitor Center is designed as an 8,400-square foot destination on Winslow Hill in Benezette Township, Elk County. Cogan said it would take advantage of the popularity of northcentral Pennsylvania's herd of about 800 elk, the largest wild herd in the Northeast. With elk as the draw, said Cogan, the concept is to "help visitors perceive the big picture of resource conservation, how their own lives are affected by the quality of land, water and landscape. The center will encourage them to get involved in conservation in their own lives."

A report on "elk tourism" prepared by Fermata Inc., a nature-tourism consulting firm, predicted attendance at the center at 160,000 by 2016, with each visitor leaving behind about $200 in the otherwise challenged local economy.

DCNR Secretary John Quigley said the commonwealth's intentions remained unchanged, despite RMEF's pullout, and that Pennsylvania continues to value RMEF's other conservation work.

"This project would not have been possible without the early partnership with RMEF," he said. "Cleary, their original intent was the 30-year relationship, but the economic situation and their internal management changed, particularly in the last year. It's a challenging time for fund-raising and their new leadership had a different view. But at the end of the day, this was an amicable transfer that will enable RMEF to focus on other conservation strengths. The DCNR's and Gov. Rendell's commitment to this center has never wavered. We will get it open next year."

Quigley said DCNR has joined with a new partner, the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation (PPFF), to complete fund-raising and exhibit construction.

"We believe this is a great project and it continues to move along nicely," said Marci Mowery, PPFF president. "We're on board as long as we need to be on board. We want this to support local business and help the rural economy of northcentral Pennsylvania, but we also want the center to convey the legacy of conservation in Pennsylvania. If we in Pennsylvania had never been proactive in land protection, or in wildlife conservation, where would we be today?"

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