Below is a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation letter to the editor sent to several media outlets in response to an environmental extremist who posted editorial comments critical of our efforts.
A March 18th letter to the editor from lobbyist Nick Gevock specifically references the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), making wild and partisan assertions that have absolutely no basis.
RMEF’s mission is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage. We evaluate legislation through that lens, and when asked about SB 270 we read a bill that may allow sportsmen to harvest more antlerless elk in units that are over-objective by providing Fish, Wildlife and Parks additional flexibility and authority. The bill passed the state Senate on a bipartisan 47-2 vote.
Mr. Gevock, who works as an organizer for the Sierra Club, is grasping at straws when he makes aspersions about RMEF and tries to link elk management with his extreme agenda. A sad but common tactic deployed by anti-everything activists like Gevock.
RMEF is working on federal policy improvements to increase the quality of habitat on federal lands. Our National Forests have suffered from a lack of active management for decades and need sustainable logging and thinning to be resilient and provide quality habitat. The Fix Our Forests Act will help, and recently passed the US House on a bipartisan vote despite opposition from radical environmental groups like Gevock’s Sierra Club.
To date, RMEF has conserved or enhanced more than 9 million acres of wildlife habitat and improved access to more than 1.6 million acres nationwide.
Members and supporters of RMEF can be proud of the real conservation and advocacy work we do.
Ryan Bronson
Director of Government Affairs, RMEF