The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has conserved or enhanced about one square mile of habitat for elk and other big game every day since its founding more than 41 years ago. That, in part, was the message recently delivered to one of the largest gatherings of wildlife professionals and supporters in North America.
RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning accepted an invitation to attend the 32nd Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society in Edmonton, Alberta, to share mission and advocacy efforts, as well as the organization’s fundraising models, granting program, support for research and other conservation accomplishments.
RMEF has five pillar programs that advance its mission: land conservation and access, habitat stewardship, hunting heritage, wildlife management and advocacy.
“To do conservation work, we raise money to put back on the ground. There are more than one million people, members and nonmembers, who support us. We have almost 500 chapters across the nation overseen by volunteers who plan and host banquets that generate funding,” said Henning. “We also receive support from outdoor industry partners, philanthropic donors and internal business operations like OutdoorClass, an online video tutorial that helps people become more familiar with hunting and the outdoors.”
Land Conservation and Access
RMEF conserves critical big game habitat, migration corridors and calving grounds while expanding and improving public access via land acquisitions, voluntary agreements, contributions and other strategic actions. In 2024, RMEF completed 18 land conservation and access projects in 12 states that protected 25,594 acres and opened or improved access to 21,816 acres.
Habitat Stewardship
RMEF and its partners fund and carry out prescribed burns, forest thinning, weed treatments and establish wildlife water developments. In 2024, RMEF enhanced 178,081 acres of habitat across 22 states.
Wildlife Management
RMEF funds wildlife management efforts including disease surveillance, wildlife-friendly fencing and research that expands the understanding of big game habitat, movement, interactions and overall herd health. In 2024, RMEF completed 65 projects across 15 states and teamed up with partners to allot nearly $6.8 million to advance scientific research.
Hunting Heritage
Through grants that support hunting heritage and conservation education, RMEF helps people experience the outdoors, learn the skills of hunting and carry those traditions forward. In 2024, RMEF completed 273 projects in 40 states.
Advocacy
RMEF advocates for its mission on all fronts. In 2024, it worked with Congress, federal and state agencies, legislatures, wildlife commissions, and its membership and the outdoor community to champion policies that benefit big game, healthy habitat, public access and the future of hunting. In 2024, RMEF helped defeat an anti-hunting/anti-wildlife management Colorado ballot initiative and was involved in legal efforts in support of wolf management and wildlife management.
“Organizations like ours as a nonprofit, while we’re a little different than state and federal agencies, provide a critical role in advocating for the work that our agency partners do. We can bridge gaps to Congress, elected officials, state agencies and landowners that help move conservation forward,” added Henning.
Since 1984, RMEF funded nearly 15,000 projects that conserved more than 9.1 million acres. The value estimate of that work is more than $1.7 billion.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)