The achievement and effects of RMEF’s contribution has motivated a ground-swell of support and interest in access. RMEF has been a long-time leader in enhancing public access through strategic land acquisitions and easements, and continually seeks innovative ways to enhance hunter opportunities by working with State and federal agencies, private landowners, corporations and non-governmental organizations and partners. Since 1984, RMEF has directly facilitated improved public access and administrative access to more than 1.2 million acres of elk habitat across the country for hunters, hikers, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy. One of the primary tenants of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s (RMEF) mission is to secure and improve public access. The Foundation grants this recognition to honor private citizens and organizations that work to advance and sustain community-based stewardship on landscapes that include, in whole or in part, public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Today, working together with members, volunteers, and partners as Team Elk, the RMEF is striving to conserve the next million acres of elk country, and to be a strong voice for hunters, access, and wildlife management and conservation issues.The Public Lands Foundation presents the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation with its 2018 Landscape Stewardship Award and this Citation. The RMEF employs more than 120 people and boasts more than 11,000 volunteers working through more than 500 chapters across the United States.įrom the most humble beginnings in 1984, the RMEF has risen to become one of the most effective and efficient conservation organizations in the United States. They are now open for all to hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy. Hundreds of thousands of these acres were completely off-limits to the public. Since then,they've grown to over 205,000 members whose support has protected and enhanced more than 6.6 million acres of North American wildlife habitat. Bursting at the seams, they said goodbye to the RMEF’s birthplace and moved to Missoula, Montana.Ī Shining Star. They now had 32,000 members, 2,000 passionate volunteers and 70 chapters, and they had protected and enhanced more than 110,000 acres of elk country. By 1988, the RMEF staff had grown to 12, and offices were spread across a vacant dentist’s office, a mini mall and an abandoned grocery store. That gift helped kick off RMEF's incredible growth and conservation achievements.īursting at the Seams. At the annual convention that year, Ray Goff, former RMEF board member and vice president of Anheuser-Busch, announced a $500,000 gift from the company. In 1988, RMEF facilitated their first land acquisition-the 16,440-acre Robb Creek property in Montana-and received their first ringing endorsement from the corporate community. They also funded their first habitat project that year-a grant to help fund a prescribed burn in a place fittingly named Elk Creek on the Kootenai National Forest near Libby, Montana. In April 1985, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation held their first convention in Spokane, Washington.

It took time, hard work and patience, but by the end of 1984, membership had grown to almost 2,500.

So they borrowed additional funds and printed 32,000 copies of the premier issue of Bugle magazine, which they mailed out and distributed to grocery stores and gas stations throughout the West. But they believed they'd made a commitment to these people. The team drained their bank accounts and borrowed funds to mail out 43,000 brochures soliciting members, promising a subscription to a magazine about elk and elk hunting, as well as an annual international convention. They set up shop in the back room of a trailer house in Troy, Montana where the four-a pastor, a realtor, a logger and a drive-in owner-created an organization that would directly benefit elk and other wildlife by putting money to work on the ground. In May of that year, they pooled their time, talent and resources and created the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), an organization dedicated to elk, elk hunting and the habitat they need to thrive. They also recognized there was no group dedicated to North America’s grandest big game animal, elk. In 1984, four hunters from Northwest Montana recognized a handful of organizations doing great work for species like ducks, turkeys and upland birds. The history of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Rocky mountain elk foundation