Valley View with Tobias: Week 13: Raffles, Training, and Field Trips!

This week was all hands on deck at the Elk Country Visitor Center. Through one of our partnerships with the PA Game Commission, we have been given a PA Bull Elk Conservation Tag to raffle off to the general public. The proceeds of this raffle are designated for use in Conservation Education, and Habitat Improvement Projects. Both of these areas are things that I am overseeing as part of my student teaching experience. The tickets finally arrived and it was time to send them our to the membership base. Workers and volunteers worked hard all week to count tickets, stuff, seal, and stamp over 2500 envelops! It was unreal to see the process from beginning to end. When I was between groups, and programs, I was helping to label and stamp the envelopes as well. One thing I have learned here at the ECVC is that nothing happens here without the hard work and dedication of the entire team. I am blessed to have become and part of such a great organization. I thought back to my time at Twin Valley and we did something very similar with the Wild Game Dinner, officers stuffed envelopes with invitations to send out to the alumni.

This week I was also able to host an Envirothon Training Day with the Elk County Conservation District. There were over 65 participating students and rotated through 4 stations that included Wildlife ID, Aquatic Resources, Forestry, and Soils. The conservation district primarily ran the stations and I was responsible for making sure they had all of the necessary materials as well as make sure students made it to the proper locations for the stations. This was a look into what my job is going to be like when I officially start at coordinator. I will need to supervise the groups as well as teach them.

The following day I took a trip to Greenwood HS, where I met with Ag Classes and discussed management practices for the PA Elk. With each of the 7 classes I discussed the history of the elk in PA, and for some of the classes I went into more detail about the mating behavior and size comparisons of white-tailed deer. The students seemed to enjoy the talks and I received positive feedback from the instructors as well. I was a long day with not very many breaks, but I had a blast and was able to reach out to a lot of students about what we do here in elk country.

Finally on Friday, I was able to participate in a one-of-a-kind experience. I was invited by the PA Elk Biologist Jeremy Banfield to assist in the placement of a new camera/GPS collar on a cow elk. This collar when activated will take photographs and video from the hardware installed around the cows neck. This video will them be used to analyze elk behavior, feeding, and habitat preferences. We left in the early morning and when into the Quehanna Wild Area. There biologist and vet located a herd of cows that they wished to study. It was extremely foggy and due to an equipment malfunction the herd scattered before he could successfully tranquilize and animal. We moved to another area closer to Winslow Hill and located another herd. The PGC Vet was able to successfully tranquilize the elk and we moved in to process the animal. I was tasked with keeping her head up and monitoring her behavior to see if she was starting to come out of sedation. It was amazing to see an elk this close and be able to handle here. I was able to learn so much about what the biologist do from working with them and asking them questions. I realized that even though I am often the teacher, leading the instruction. It is important to take a step back sometimes and become the students. We never stop learning!!