(Photo credit: RMEF)
Lasting Legacies
by Vivien Felker
Current and prospective members of the Trails Society gathered at a sold-out breakfast to discuss giving back to RMEF.
On a breezy Saturday morning during RMEF’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Missoula, Montana, current and prospective members of RMEF’s Trails Society met for an exclusive breakfast to share their love of elk country.
The Trails Society is a dedicated group of people who have chosen to include RMEF as a beneficiary of a planned gift to advance the RMEF’s mission of conservation.
Nancy Holland, a member of the board of directors who lives in Missouri, voiced the gratitude RMEF has toward those who have included the foundation in their estate plans and to explain how funding has been and will continue to be vital to RMEF’s mission. But she doesn’t just talk the talk; she is a Trails Society member herself as is her husband Howard. “Donations are the reason why the RMEF has been able to accomplish all it has,” she says. Nancy shared her deep passion and love for RMEF, evident when she stepped up to lead the organization for several months as its interim President & CEO in 2018. Nancy and Howard strongly believe in the value of the Trails Society and want to encourage others to consider becoming members as well.
Longtime Life Member, lead volunteer and Trails Society member Jerry Hirrschoff drove from South Dakota for the anniversary celebration to connect with old friends but also to attend this breakfast to learn more about the conservation impact of his planned gift, he says.
While the audience drank coffee and enjoyed breakfast, Adam Rorrer, Morgan Stanley managing director, shared that since the late 1980s, RMEF has received over $16.7 million in planned gifts from its donors who designated this organization as a beneficiary in their will, life insurance policy, or retirement account such as 401(k)or IRA. Making a tax-exempt donation to RMEF can be a savvy move, he says, for anyone thinking about estate planning and taxes. RMEF will then put those dollars to work conserving elk country.
“All of the information provided today about reducing taxes was incredibly useful,” says Jerry.
Tom Robinson from Georgia stood up to reiterate that by making a tax-deductible donation through a planned gift to RMEF, prospective Trails Society members can lessen the tax burden that sometimes comes with giving an inheritance to family members. Like Nancy Holland, Tom serves on the board and is currently the vice chair. He and his wife Clarissa became members of the Trails Society after seeing the lead role RMEF played in eastern elk restorations and knowing the gift they leave will help ensure that their kids and grandchildren get the opportunity to hunt those herds.
Randy and Judy Hoose live in New York, and though it has no elk, they appreciate RMEF’s efforts to support herds in the East, as well as in the West where Randy travels often to hunt. At the breakfast, the couple donned matching rings made with the ivories from a bull Randy killed in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness in 2008. As a longtime Life Member of RMEF, Randy knows the value of conservation, but it took a plane ride over western Montana for him to see the urgency. “On every little ridgetop, there was a road and three houses, and another road and three more houses.” He describes that view as a “light bulb” moment.
“I understood what was happening to habitat from pictures and things I had read but seeing it in the air like that made me go ‘whoa, this is what Charlie Decker is talking about when he says we need to do something about this.’” In the years following, Randy and Judy volunteered their time for RMEF and increased their cumulative giving. Now they aim to include the foundation in their estate planning. “We don’t know exactly how yet, but the RMEF will be part of our plans,” says Judy.
Tom Meehl attended the breakfast after traveling from his home state of Pennsylvania. He says he’s inspired by how donations big or small help RMEF maximize its mission work, and that anyone considering the Trails Society need just look to the list of accomplishments over the past 40 years to see how much their money can do. “It’ll create a lasting legacy for you and for conservation,” he says.
His wife, Sue, likens planned giving to piecing together a mural or puzzle, and the first step is simply to reach out to RMEF to understand what options are available. “Then, include your financial advisor and figure out what is a good fit for you,” she says.
RMEF co-founder Charlie Decker and his wife Yvonne attended the breakfast to discuss the foundation’s humble beginnings and how it has grown to be a powerhouse for conservation. Yvonne expressed their gratitude for anyone who aims to or already has included RMEF in their estate plans. Then they shared their own goals for the future.
“We helped start this outfit and are going to continue doing so as members of the Trails Society. We started this because the elk needed a champion, and if not us, then who?” says Charlie.