So were the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Bureau of Forestry. With its 900 acres of open shrub-grasslands, interspersed with hillsides blanketed with oaks, hickories, maples and pines, and lush riparian habitat along the river, the land sustains elk, deer, bears, wild turkeys, Allegheny woodrats, raptors and a host of other species. The New Garden property also provides a vital link for elk and deer that travel between the Sproul State Forest and the adjacent Moshannon State Forest. Public agencies often face a bureaucratic steeplechase when trying to acquire land, creating deal-busting delays that often force landowners to sell to buyers with cash on hand. Groups like the Elk Foundation can slice through the web of red tape, purchasing and holding onto land until an agency can come up with the money.
New Garden offers a prime example.
Walt Boden, a habitat biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, found the bull dead near Route 120, southeast of Jericho, on October 16, 2000. For those who had the opportunity to see it, the thrill will last a long time. Unfortunately, no one else will have that opportunity again. Based on a necropsy, we know that the elk was shot sometime during the weekend of October 14-15. Our officers have collected evidence from the scene, but we need more.