Will Penn's Cave become PA's 126th state park? Here's the latest on the effort

Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park, a Centre County landmark for more than a century, may someday become Pennsylvania’s 126th state park, but it won’t happen this year.

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, has spearheaded the effort, with the Centre County Commissioners unanimously approving a letter of support earlier this month to see the attraction’s roughly 1,400 acres transferred to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Benninghoff introduced legislation and hoped to include it in this year’s budget, but the budget passed on July 12 without it.

Benninghoff, who is up for reelection this year, told the Centre Daily Times on Monday that if he’s reelected, he’ll look to try again in future budget cycles.

“It’s an initiative that we thought was worthy to try to entertain, but unfortunately you need the support of the governor’s office and the Senate and our House chamber at a time when we were already late on the budget, and it just didn’t work out this year,” Benninghoff said. “It’s a very important site, but like many initiatives, sometimes it takes multiple attempts to work, and we’ll continue work for it.”

FULL STORY: Could Penn’s Cave become a state park? Local officials support designation efforts

Here’s what to know about the effort:

• The proposal would transfer about 1,400 acres across 15 deeds to DCNR. Owners Russ Schleiden and Jeanine Watson, whose family has held the land for roughly four generations, have been working with the state for about three years.
• Benninghoff led the effort in Harrisburg and said several investors have offered to buy the land, break it into parcels and develop it - something he said would “be a real shame.”
• Schleiden, Penn’s Cave’s CEO, pointed to the cave’s ecological importance, noting an underground spring on the property serves as the headwaters of Penns Creek, which flows 67 miles to the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
• Watson, who is Schleiden’s daughter and the cave’s executive business director, said DCNR has plans to enhance the site, including a possible public campsite that would help the attraction financially support itself, among other things that the family couldn’t do on their own.
• Laurel Caverns in Fayette County became the 125th state park this spring after its owners donated it to the commonwealth, setting a precedent for Penn’s Cave to be considered for state park status.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.