RENO, Nev.– Amateur and professional elk callers from eight states–California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington–have medaled in the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships for 2010.

Competition concluded March 6 in Reno, Nev., held as part of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s 26th Annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

Results:

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RENO, Nev.–Elk Camp 2010, which concluded March 7 in Reno, Nev., set the tone, direction and fundraising base to position the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for a big year in habitat conservation, officials say.

On the strength of $1.45 million in auction proceeds and an Elk Camp record for new memberships (preliminary figures show 2,867 members joined or renewed during the event), RMEF wrapped up its 26th Annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo with gross fundraising topping $2.75 million. Those dollars will help support the organization’s initiatives to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat.

RMEF recently topped 5.7 million acres conserved or enhanced, but RMEF President and CEO David Allen says the conservation to-do list in elk country is growing longer, not shorter.

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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.

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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.”

RENO, Nev.—Elk hunters, listen up: ESPN Outdoors.com will carry live coverage of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, March 5-6, from Reno. Nev.

Live streaming video will begin with preliminary rounds of competition at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific time) on Friday, March 5. Finals begin at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific time) on Saturday, March 6.

“If you like to hunt, call or listen to elk—and if you can go online—this event will be a real treat,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “These competitors are the best elk callers on the planet and viewers will learn a lot about elk.”

Cash, prizes and world-champion honors will be awarded in six divisions: Pee Wee (age 10 and under), Youth (age 11-17), Natural Voice (no calling devices allowed), Women’s, Men’s and Professional (sponsored competitors).

Judges include naturalists, hunters and former elk calling champions.

The event is being held as part of the annual RMEF Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center, March 4-7.

To watch the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, and to see daily coverage of the entire event, go to www.espnoutdoors.com.

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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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MISSOULA, Mont.—ESPN Outdoors has confirmed upcoming daily online coverage, features, photo galleries and live streaming video from “Elk Camp,” the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual convention and expo, March 4-7, in Reno, Nev.

Coverage will be featured at www.espnoutdoors.com.

Links to the coverage will be provided at the Elk Foundation’s site, www.rmef.org.

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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.