February 20, 2013
Avid Outdoorsman, Businessman to Join RMEF Board of Directors
MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is pleased to welcome Russ Bumgardner to its board of directors.
“Russ brings more than a decade of RMEF experience on all levels to the board,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “His business background and community involvement provide both a solid perspective and quality leadership at a time when we need to continue to further our mission.”
Bumgardner joined RMEF in 2001 after attending a banquet in Beaumont, Texas. He started volunteering one year later and helped restart the Baton Rouge Chapter. Bumgardner became a Life Member and served as the volunteer state chair for two years, regional chair for six years, and chair of the Habitat Council for two more years.
“Joining the RMEF Board of Directors is exciting and an opportunity to serve the foundation at a higher level. It also provides me an opportunity to participate as a steward over God's creation,” said Bumgardner. “RMEF exemplifies this stewardship in its efforts to protect and enhance habitat for elk and other wildlife, provide restoration of elk in what once was their natural habitat, and our hunting heritage preserves the skill set for the whole family with sound management practices to be conservationists.”
Bumgardner is a project manager at Jacobs Engineering in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has more than 39 years of experience in project management, supervision, engineering and detail design as related to petrochemical, alternate energy, and power plant facilities.
An avid hunter, sportsman, father of six children and grandfather of 14, Bumgardner was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and reared in the suburbs of Canton, Ohio. One of his fondest memories is squirrel hunting with his father as a young boy.
“2013 and the 21st century are quite different than 1984 when RMEF began. Technology has surpassed humanity and continuous entertainment has replaced the outdoors,” added Bumgardner. “My vision includes continuing the education of our young people and others with interest to the joys and conservation principles of hunting and the enjoyment of the great outdoors.”
Although Bumgardner calls Baton Rouge home, he and his girlfriend, Tobbie, spend time in West Virginia visiting relatives and hunting whitetail deer. He often takes time from the office to make a trip out West to hunt elk, mule deer or bear. While he enjoys living in Louisiana “this old country boy yearns for the mountains and the weather changes.”