MISSOULA, Mont.—Pennsylvania has broken into a Top 10 list of places to find monster elk, an historic indicator of successful habitat and management efforts. Keeping that conservation momentum going, both at home and across the U.S., is the goal of a newly launched Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation chapter in Bloomsburg/Danville, Pa.

“Elk have roamed the Keystone State since 1913 after a successful restoration effort led by a young Pennsylvania Game Commission, but this is Pennsylvania’s first-ever Top 10 appearance in Boone and Crockett Club records, and that’s a big deal,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO.

The Boone and Crockett Club has kept trophy records of North American game since 1830. In the 169 years preceding 2000, Pennsylvania produced zero record-class elk.

In 2001, Pennsylvania held its first elk hunt in over seven decades. Between then and now, the club’s prestigious records book has gained four bulls from the commonwealth, which ties it with California as America’s 10th most productive trophy elk state in the new millennium. See full lists of Top 10 Boone and Crockett elk states below.

RMEF has played a key role in the growing success of Pennsylvania’s elk herd, says Carl Roe, executive director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

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MISSOULA, MT. / Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation —Whether they work individually or as part of a group, volunteers are essential to conservation today—even more so tomorrow.

That’s the consensus of conservation professionals who predict that fish, wildlife and habitat, as well as the future of America’s sporting traditions, will depend more and more on devoted souls whose only paycheck is the personal reward of preserving traditional values and passing on a cherished way of life.

Volunteerism spans from teaching a neighbor kid to cast at a nearby pond to serving on a board that directs policy for international wildlife habitat initiatives.

A conservation organization can be an effective channel for many volunteer passions.

Here’s how to get involved:

1. Consider why you’re interested in volunteering. Do you want to make a difference in the world, or in your own corner of the outdoors? Is it about building your own skills and social
network? Or are you simply inspired to give something back to a special place, species or heritage? These questions can help you choose the right organization.

2. Select an outfit that represents something special to you. If your pulse quickens at the thought of mallards over decoys, an elk bugling from a golden stand of aspens, a bass exploding on a topwater lure, there’s a group for you. Ditto if you’re concerned about Second Amendment issues. Maybe you believe that youths in your community should know more about handling firearms safely, or how hunting and angling pay for conservation. Or perhaps you’re just worried about the kudzu infestation in the back pasture of your hunting club. Whatever your interest, there’s probably a good fit for you somewhere out there. If not, start something new.

3. Speak with staff or volunteers from the organization and ask what opportunities exist for newcomers as well as experienced volunteers. Attend a meeting to see how the group
interacts. At its best, volunteering is a selfless act for a greater good, but everyone wants to feel appropriately appreciated—find out how the outfit says thank you.

4. Seek out volunteer tasks that suit you. Conservation always needs money but if soliciting donations isn’t your cup of tea, consider helping setup for a fundraising event or even a back
-office gig stuffing envelopes. Maybe you’d rather install aquatic habitat or remove decrepit fencing from a big-game migration corridor. Of course, it’s fun to learn new things and
there’s real satisfaction in completing less pleasant tasks, but it pays to ensure your core duties will be compatible with your time and talent.

5. Start small. If you already have a busy schedule, commitments at home or unpredictable work hours, you can still get involved. In fact, most organizations want volunteers who are busy people because busy people know how to get things done. See about working for only an hour or two per week or perhaps one day per month. Later, if you find you enjoy the work and have more time to pursue it, gradually take on more.

6. Ask, don’t demand. People in charge of organizing volunteers are often volunteers themselves, but, invariably, they’re working to meet certain goals with a bigger mission in
mind. Especially if you’re just starting out, the best bet is simply assimilating into their system. Later on, if you see that it could work better, make suggestions on how to fix it.

7. Ask questions and do research, but until you get your feet wet, you won’t know if volunteering for a particular organization is really right for you.

Volunteering allows a person to make a lasting mark on conservation, leave America’s outdoors as—or better than—they found it, and hand down a meaningful personal legacy to their children and grandchildren.

It matters not whether you get involved individually or as part of a group. The important thing is just getting started.

Sooner the better.

MISSOULA, Mont. Elk and other wildlife in the nation’s breadbasket will benefit from $31,343 in new grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The grants will help fund conservation and education initiatives in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Grant amounts are based on RMEF fundraisers held in the respective states.

Elk Foundation volunteers drove the 2008 banquets, auctions and other fundraising events that made these grants possible. This is where their work begins to transform into on-the-ground conservation benefits, and its part of the payday for our supporters who are passionate about giving something back to the outdoors, said David Allen, Elk Foundation president and CEO.

RMEF grants will help fund the following projects, listed by state:

Kansas Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $15,250. Projects include reducing depredation on private land by managing about 200 forage plots covering 750 acres for elk and other wildlife at Fort Riley military reservation in Riley County; enhancing riparian habitat by treating noxious weeds and planting cottonwood, willow and native shrubs on 777 acres at Cimarron National Grasslands in Morton County; and sponsoring Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshops statewide, Big Brothers Big Sisters Pass It On Outdoor Mentors programs statewide, and Ninnescah Valley Archery Club youth education programs in Pratt County. RMEF partners include the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and other conservation groups.

Nebraska Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $8,075. Projects include developing methodology for aerial elk surveys in the western panhandle of Nebraska including Dawes and Box Butte counties; and funding two scholarships for wildlife conservation students at Chadron State College. RMEF partners include the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Oklahoma Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $8,018. Projects include creating forage openings for elk, rejuvenating water impoundments and maintaining firebreaks at Spavinaw Wildlife Management Area in Delaware and Mayes counties; and enhancing forage for elk and other wildlife by prescribe burning 8,195 acres at Pushmataha Wildlife Management Area in Pushmataha County. RMEF partners include the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and other conservation groups.

Since 1984 in these three states, the Elk Foundation and its partners have completed 155 conservation and education projects with a value of more than $9.8 million.

MISSOULA, Mont.—More than $23,000 in hunting guns, bows and gear will be raffled at five 2010 consumer sports shows in the Ultimate Elk Hunter’s Raffle presented by International Sportsmen’s Expositions (ISE) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Raffle monies will be used for RMEF habitat projects in the respective ISE show states.

In 2009, RMEF passed 5.6 million acres of habitat conserved or enhanced, and over a half-million acres opened or secured for public access.

Five prizes valued at $4,500 total will be raffled at each 2010 ISE show, including:

• Denver, Colo.—Jan. 7-10
• San Mateo, Calif.—Jan. 14-17
• Sacramento, Calif.—Jan. 21-24
• Phoenix, Ariz.—Feb. 26-28
• Salt Lake City, Utah—March 18-21

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Photo by RMEF

Tune in tonight at 8:00 pm Eastern to Dan Rather Reports on HDNET.

Dan Rather Reports is doing a story on the first wolf hunt in Montana.  The story will focus on the wolf’s impact on ranching as well as wildlife.  The RMEF will be represented, speaking to the impact wolves have had on wildlife and the need for management of wolves through hunting.

HDNET is channel 362 on Dish Network.  For information on what channel HDNET is in your area and/or provider go to http://www.hd.net/subscribe.html.

The program will also be available on I-Tunes tomorrow.

MISSOULA, Mont.—Flu is on everyone’s mind this autumn. So for hunters who start feeling lousy upon arrival in elk camp, the diagnosis may seem obvious. But, like skiers and mountain climbers, elk hunters at high elevations also are prone to altitude sickness with symptoms that look and feel like the flu—headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath and trouble sleeping.

Ways to prevent the flu are well publicized, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is offering the following tips for avoiding altitude sickness.

Altitude sickness is caused by thin air at high elevations. Your body must work harder to maintain normal oxygen levels in the blood. Breathing and pulse rates increase. Still, the lack of oxygen can knock a hunter down especially if they go too hard too soon.

“Most of us live at a much lower elevation than elk do. That alone puts many hunters at a disadvantage even before they begin their first stalk,” said Cameron Hanes, a fitness and bowhunting authority as well as TV show host and columnist for RMEF.

Hanes says most sufferers adapt to high altitude by the fourth day. The following tips can help you make better use of your first three days in elk country.

• When you arrive in high country, avoid physical exertion for the first 24 hours. This can be tough when you’ve been looking forward to the hunt all year, so if you can’t or won’t take a full day to adjust, be smart. Don’t go full bore right out of the gate.

• Hunt high, sleep low. At elevations above 5,000 feet, try to gain no more than 2,000 feet per day. You can hunt higher as long as you go back down 2,000 feet to sleep.

• Ascend very slowly past 8,000 feet. Acclimatize yourself. Acclimatization helps cells get along on a smaller oxygen budget. By gaining altitude slowly, your body will adjust gradually with few if any symptoms of altitude sickness.

• If traveling by air to a hunt above 8,000 feet, try to incorporate a layover of one to two days at an intermediate altitude.

• Drink water copiously and constantly.

• Avoid alcohol for the first few days. Alcohol dehydrates you and drinking at high altitudes amplifies its affect.

• Consume a high-carbohydrate diet. Lots of granola bars, trail mix, etc.

• The prescription drug acetazolamide (Diamox) can be helpful as a preventive treatment but always consult with your doctor first.

• Fitness at sea level doesn’t guarantee an easier time when you’re at 10,000 feet, but being in good shape makes it more likely that your lungs can cope with the challenges of the high life.

If these tips don’t work, and if your symptoms persist even at lower altitudes, you may indeed have the flu.

Hanes serves RMEF as host of “Elk Chronicles” on Outdoor Channel and as a columnist for “Bugle” magazine. His second book, “Backcountry Bowhunting, A Guide to the Wild Side,” is currently in its fifth printing and is available at www.cameronhanes.com.

If you are wondering about elk in Virginia, read this!

MISSOULA, Mont. Elk and other wildlife on the parched Arizona landscape now have six new, reliable watering sources thanks to a landmark pipeline project spearheaded by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The partly buried 1½-inch pipe, 12 miles long, delivers useable wastewater from the City of Tusayan to areas south of the Grand Canyon Arizona’s famous Unit 9 hunting area.

As part of this project, seven stand-alone water catchments also were built in the area.

The Elk Foundation expended $348,000 on this project using contributions from donors, proceeds from Arizona hunting permit raffles and grants from RMEF banquets and other fundraisers across the state. The Arizona Game and Fish Department provided $520,000. Other groups supported the project with volunteer labor and in-kind services.

Across the Southwest, water often is the missing ingredient for healthy habitat. In an average year, conservation agencies and organizations in Arizona annually spend over $100,000 hauling water into elk country. Severe drought can drive expenses way up.

It took six years to design, facilitate and build this pipeline system but the valves are now open and water is flowing. From now on, in all but the most extreme drought years, we shouldn’t have to haul water into this region; said Clair Harris, an RMEF member from Flagstaff, Ariz., who helped organize volunteer labor for the project.

Harris said more than 100 volunteers from every RMEF chapter in Arizona helped build the pipeline and catchments.

Over the years, RMEF funds and volunteers have been involved in the construction or renovation of over 30 watering sources across Unit 9. With the new additions, biologists agree the area now has a good minimum supply of water.

Wildlife in this area is absolutely tied to these water developments and the new pipeline provides an efficient, reliable distribution system that will be beneficial for many species including elk, deer and other big game, said John Goodwin, habitat specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Goodwin said the pipeline is supplied from a runoff pond at the Tusayan water treatment plant, supplemented with reclaimed effluent, snowmelt and rain. The pond is heavily used by local wildlife. A pump moves surplus water through high-density plastic pipe that won’t crush beneath vehicles, break from freezing or degrade in sunlight. The line is buried where soils are deep and runs along the surface where the ground is rocky. Water flows into six strategically located, fiberglass storage tanks averaging about 7,000 gallons each. Each tank is then connected to an auto-fill drinking device accessible to wildlife.

Stand-alone catchments are designed to collect rain and snowmelt on site, store water in 20,000-gallon holding tanks, and dispense water into drinkers.

The Kaibab National Forest approved the project after lengthy environmental analyses.

Goodwin credited the Elk Foundation and especially Harris as a tremendous asset for coordinating progress on the ground and rallying volunteer labor so the project didn’t have to rely on contractors or paid employees.

MISSOULA, Mont. Your crosshairs shift undecidedly between a raghorn bull and a big cow, both standing broadside at 60 yards. The elk tag in your pocket makes both animals legal. Which one do you shoot?

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation offers 5 reasons to consider taking the cow:

1. Reducing a herd to fit the carrying capacity of its winter range is a form of habitat
conservation. Culling a calf-producer is more effective population control. Wildlife agencies
issue either-sex tags specifically to encourage hunter harvest of cows.

2. Letting young bulls walk improves your odds for a big, mature bull next year.

3. A more abundant bull population tends to be older which can improve efficiency of the rut.
Result: more bulls surviving winter, higher pregnancy rates in cows, fewer late calves and
better overall herd health.

4. A less abundant cow population tends to be younger, more vigorous and resistant to diseases.

5. As tablefare, cows and calves are generally better.

Hunting remains the primary wildlife management tool today, vital for balancing elk populations within biological and cultural tolerances, says David Allen, Elk Foundation president and CEO.

Habitat conservation, sound management, good hunting, and healthy wildlife they re all tied together. And, more and more, adequate harvest of cow elk is becoming a factor. If you have an either-sex elk tag this fall, consider letting young bulls go and filling your freezer with a fat cow, he said.

RMEF this summer passed the 5.6 million acre mark in habitat conserved or enhanced.

MISSOULA, Mont. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has announced its 2009 grants for conservation education projects in Florida, and scheduled a fundraiser for Oct. 3 in Ft. Lauderdale.

The Elk Foundation’s Everglades Chapter will hold its annual big-game banquet Oct. 3 at the Miami Showman’s Association, 3391 Griffin Rd., in Ft. Lauderdale. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The event features food, fun, games, prizes and an auction. For reservations, call Shelly at (954) 953-5312 or register online at www.rmef.org.

RMEF chapters and partners across Florida since 1997 have completed conservation and education projects valued at more than $166,000.

Highlights have included workshops, clinics and programs to introduce youth and other newcomers to the outdoors, promote hunter safety and responsibility, provide physically challenged individuals with a hunting experience, and engage kids in conservation.

For 2009, Elk Foundation grants for Florida have been allocated as follows:

1. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received an RMEF grant in support of the agency’s hunter safety programs. Also includes support for the Youth Hunting Program of Florida, Florida National Archery in the Schools, Beau Turner Youth Conservation Center and Becoming an Outdoors-Woman.

2. Florida 4-H Foundation received an RMEF grant in support of the 4-H Conservation Shooting Sports Program. In addition to firearm safety training, this program also maintains an archery instruction component at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The program has become increasingly popular, and RMEF has provided funding for seven straight years.

The Elk Foundation emphasizes habitat conservation in states with wild elk herds, but a portion of funds raised in Florida and other non-elk states are kept at home to benefit local conservation education and hunting heritage activities.