GUNNISON, Colo. – The Colorado Division of Wildlife released 62 pronghorn in the Gunnison Basin on Feb. 26 to supplement the population in that area. The release area was about 20 miles southeast of the town of Gunnison.
 
The animals were trapped earlier in the day on private property in an area northeast of Pueblo where there are an abundance of pronghorn. Hunting is not allowed in that area and the number of pronghorn is over the population management objective set by the DOW. Relocating animals is an established wildlife management technique that is used nationwide.
 
“It was a win-win situation,” said Brian Dreher, terrestrial biologist with the DOW in the Colorado Springs area. “Gunnison needed some pronghorn to bolster their herds and this area near Pueblo had plenty to spare.”
 

Read more…

RENO, Nev.—Ten years after his death at the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt’s enduring legacy as a competitor and outdoorsman has sparked a new partnership between the Dale Earnhardt Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The new venture has been christened the Dale Earnhardt Land/Wildlife Legacy.

Announcing the news March 4 at the RMEF annual convention in Reno, Nev., RMEF President and CEO David Allen said the partnership is good for wildlife and hunters.

Read more…

MISSOULA, Mont.–For 35 years, no company has produced better consumer sportsman shows than International Sportsmen’s Expositions (ISE). Annual events in Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and San Mateo, Calif., draw hundreds of thousands of hunters, anglers and conservationists.

Today the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation announced an expanded partnership with ISE.

For 2010, RMEF and ISE introduced the Ultimate Elk Hunter’s Raffle. Joint marketing efforts to promote RMEF and ISE included the RMEF Great Elk Tour, and RMEF sponsorship of ISE’s Adventure Theater, and Best of the West Elk Calling Contests.

In 2012, ISE will manage the sales, marketing and promotion of the exposition component of RMEF’s annual national convention, called Elk Camp.

RMEF will continue to manage its own auctions, fundraisers, banquets and ceremonies in conjunction with the ISE-managed expo portion of Elk Camp.

“We expect this new partnership to boost our visibility across the West and ignite significant growth in our own convention, which ultimately means additional funding for our mission,” said Steve Decker, vice president of marketing for RMEF.

ISE President and CEO Brian Layng said, “We look forward to co-locating with RMEF and providing its members, exhibitors, corporate sponsors and the public with the best wildlife and outdoor exposition in North America.”

MISSOULA, Mont.—In letters to legislators and newspapers across the West, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is calling out groups like Defenders of Wildlife, Western Wildlife Conservancy and others for their disingenuous use of data on wolves and elk.

The RMEF action was prompted by each group’s recent op-ed articles in the media, as well as testimony before Utah lawmakers by Western Wildlife Conservancy Executive Director Kirk Robinson. All cited RMEF statistics to argue that restored wolf populations have somehow translated to growing elk herds in the northern Rockies.

“The theory that wolves haven’t had a significant adverse impact on some elk populations is not accurate. We’ve become all too familiar with these groups’ tactic of cherry-picking select pieces of information to support their own agenda, even when it is misleading,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We will not allow that claim to go unchallenged.”

Read more…

MISSOULA, Mont.—Wildlife conservation projects in 17 Washington counties have been selected to receive grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in 2010.

The new RMEF funding, totaling $186,270, will affect Asotin, Chelan, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Lincoln, Pacific, Pierce, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Spokane, Stevens, Whitman and Yakima counties.

“These grants are possible because of the successful banquets and fundraisers staged over the past year by our Washington volunteers—most of whom are elk hunters as well as devoted conservationists,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “Since 1984, our annual grants have helped complete 433 different projects in Washington with a combined value of more than $101 million.”

Read more…

MISSOULA, Mont.–Wildlife conservation projects in 12 Oregon counties have been selected to receive grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in 2010.

The new RMEF funding, totaling $153,500, will affect Benton, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Union and Wallowa counties.

“These grants are possible because of the successful banquets and fundraisers staged over the past year by our Oregon volunteers–most of whom are elk hunters as well as devoted conservationists,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “Since 1984, our annual grants have helped complete 633 different projects in Oregon with a combined value of more than $36 million.”

Read more…

MISSOULA, Mont.—Two land transfers underway in Idaho are securing public hunting on over 1,500 acres of managed elk habitat—and helping build a special fund earmarked for more similar projects by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

RMEF’s Strategic Land Protection Fund, which began in 2009 with $1.5 million, is now over $3 million. The fund is used for acquiring vital but eminently threatened tracts, holding them until partnering state and federal agencies can accumulate funding, and then conveying them for permanent habitat protection and public access.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission in late December authorized the Idaho Fish and Game Department to purchase two tracts offered by RMEF at about half of their appraised values. The agency will make four installments of $137,550 each.

“These monies, along with previous imbursements from other states as well as private donations, are building our Strategic Land Protection Fund to a level that makes RMEF well positioned for even broader conservation successes in 2010,” said Jack Blackwell, vice president of lands and conservation for RMEF.

On the Idaho projects, specifically, Blackwell explained, “Most often, while we’re holding land for future conveyance, our agency partners begin managing the habitat and opening the lands for public access. That’s how it worked with the Idaho Fish and Game Department and these latest projects in Idaho. Many public-land hunters in Idaho are already familiar with the quality of habitat and the amount of wildlife on these tracts.”

The first parcel borders the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area in the Upper Snake River region. This tract is 700 acres, 380 in native habitat and 320 in dry cropland. The second parcel is 895 acres, all in native vegetation, bordering the Georgetown Summit Wildlife Management Area in the southeast region. Both areas include critical mule deer and elk winter range, as well as upland habitat.

The counties were notified in advance of the state’s intent to purchase, and Idaho Fish and Game Department will pay fees in lieu of taxes on both tracts.

MISSOULA, Mont.—More than 6,500 conservation projects completed. Over 5.7 million acres of habitat, mostly on public land, enhanced or protected. Nearly 600,000 acres opened or secured for public access. These and other milestone achievements of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation wouldn’t be possible without partners like Cabela’s.

One of the organization’s longest and most generous supporters, Cabela’s has announced renewed sponsorship of several RMEF initiatives for 2010.

“Conservation and stewardship of wildlife and wild lands is at the core of our business,” said Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer Tommy Millner. “We’re proud to partner with and support the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in their efforts to preserve the heritage of conservation that’s so important to our customers and our employees.”

For 2010, Cabela’s is again donating gift cards and merchandise used as premiums in RMEF membership drives, contributing items for auctions and other fundraisers, underwriting the RMEF 2010 conservation art print, sponsoring Elk Camp seminars and the Elk Country Legacy mission campaign, and more.

“Cabela’s is more than the World’s Foremost Outfitter—it’s one of the reasons why RMEF has become a premier force for conservation. Words don’t express our gratitude nearly as well as our rising numbers of completed projects and conserved acres,” said Steve Decker, vice president of marketing for RMEF.

He added, “We thank everyone at Cabela’s for their long and continuing partnership.”

Visit Cabela’s at www.cabelas.com.

MISSOULA, Mont.—Quality habitat, healthy elk herds and ample places to hunt them. Bowhunters can help make it real by buying two newly engineered accessories from New Archery Products (NAP). Each purchase of QuikTune 360° arrowrests and HellRazor broadheads supports the conservation work of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Brady Arview, vice president of marketing for NAP, said, “Bowhunting for elk in September—it doesn’t get any better. That’s why we’re proud to partner with RMEF and help ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat by offering these two specially licensed products.”

Read more…

MISSOULA, Mont.—While most Americans were consumed with year-end tallies of bank failures, health care bills and morons trying to blow up their underwear, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was busy closing out a year of conservation successes featuring 458 completed projects that conserved or enhanced over 132,000 acres of elk country.

Other RMEF highlights from 2009 included 5 percent growth in membership, record levels of philanthropic gifts and finishing the fiscal year with budget-positive black ink.

“In spite of a rough year for the economy and many other distractions, our volunteers continued to lean into the harness, accomplishing great things for elk, other wildlife and hunters, and setting the stage for continued success,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “I’m proud that our organization provided some of the best news of 2009.”

Land conservation projects, such as acquisitions and transfers that added to accessible public-land systems in Washington, Oregon and South Dakota, impacted 21,785 acres. Habitat enhancement projects like prescribed burning, treating weeds and thinning forest, nearly all on public lands, touched another 110,287 acres. Total acres: 132,070.

Also in 2009, RMEF-funded education initiatives reached out to 4.5 million youths and adults in 44 states with positive messages about hunting and conservation.

Other top RMEF headlines for 2009:

• Celebrated RMEF’s 25th anniversary
• Granted more than $2 million for habitat enhancement projects in 20 states
• Passed the 585,000-acre all-time mark for lands opened or secured for public hunting
• Celebrated Tennessee’s first elk hunt in 144 years, following herd restoration efforts
• Helped launch a 10,000-acre project to secure habitat and access in Washington
• Filed legal briefs urging delisting and state-regulated hunting of wolves
• Launched a multi-year project to restore 10,000 acres of aspen habitat in California
• Conveyed 850 acres of Ladd Marsh habitat to Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
• Completed a pipeline project to deliver water to parched wildlife habitat in Arizona
• Conveyed over 3,700 acres of elk habitat to the State of Alaska
• Launched a multi-year project to enhance thousands of acres of habitat in Arkansas
• Conveyed 235 acres of habitat in Goshute Canyon Wilderness to the BLM in Nevada
• Conserved over 1,000 acres of elk habitat in the Black Hills of South Dakota
• Conveyed 120 acres of elk habitat to the U.S. Forest Service in Wisconsin
• Funded $2.4 million for Elk Country Visitor Center in Pennsylvania
• Conserved over 1,000 acres of elk habitat and received conservation easement certification in Colorado