A Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation collaborative project in northeast Oregon received a funding boost from the Forest Legacy Program. The 11,438-acre land conservation and access project is near the towns of La Grande and Starkey. It lies between and connects two blocks of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and will create a new wildlife area to be co-managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Forest Legacy Program is a conservation effort administered by the U.S. Forest Service in partnership with state agencies to encourage the protection of privately owned forest lands through purchases and easements for the benefit of hunting and other recreational opportunities, conserving wildlife habitat and water supplies, and conducting forest management. It is funded from offshore oil and gas lease earnings through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

The $22 million grant is the largest LWCF grant for a single project utilized by RMEF.

“The commitment of LWCF Forest Legacy funding is a vital step toward completion of this conservation project that will conserve habitat for elk, other big game and a myriad of wildlife, while also providing continued active forest management and public access for hunters, anglers and others,” said RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver. “We recognize and salute the collaborative effort of our partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, State of Oregon, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the landowner who is carrying forward Harry Merlo’s legacy as a Life Member of RMEF. We share gratitude for the support from elected officials, both locally and in Congress, for bringing this conservation legacy within reach.”

The project area supplies important habitat for elk, mule deer and other big game, and is part of an elk migration corridor. It also features six miles of Beaver Creek, multiple smaller tributaries and two miles of the Grande Ronde River, marking one of the largest contiguous land ownerships of native salmonid bearing streams in the Upper Grande Ronde.

(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)