December 2, 2010
New Director of Lands Key to RMEF Mission
MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has announced that Randy Riviere of Bigfork, Mont., has been named as its new director of lands, a key position in the organization’s work to conserve habitat for elk and other wildlife.
“As our director of lands, Randy will oversee purchased and donated conservation easements, assembled land exchanges, gifts of real estate, disposal of lands, management, program direction, budget and strategic planning for a staff that includes several lands program managers working afield,” said Blake Henning, vice president of lands and conservation for RMEF. “Randy brings invaluable experience and insights, and we’re very excited to welcome him to our team.”
To date, RMEF has permanently protected more than 921,000 acres of habitat from loss to residential development or other land-use changes. Many of those lands are now publicly held and open for access including hunting. RMEF also holds and monitors more than 160 conservation easements covering over 226,000 private acres across 15 states.
Riviere brings extensive experience in easements, personnel and land management. He comes to RMEF after operating his own consulting business focused on riparian, wetland and agriculture land conservation. He previously worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Tri-Valley Growers in California. Riviere holds a master’s degree in fisheries and wildlife biology from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana.
Riviere will start with RMEF on Dec. 6 and will be moving with his family to Missoula, Mont., early in 2011.