MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and various partners allotted $5,083,371 in 2024* to enhance wildlife habitat, bolster wildlife management and support youth shooting sports organizations, hunter education and mentored hunts in Oregon.
“These funds, generated by our volunteers and their fundraising efforts, will provide long-lasting benefits for elk, mule deer and other wildlife species, while also helping the next generation of hunters and future conservation funding,” said Daniel Beraldo, RMEF regional director for southern Oregon.
Three dozen projects cover 27 counties with several of them having beneficial statewide impacts. RMEF volunteers generated $365,627 which helped leverage $4,717,744 in partner dollars.
“We salute and greatly appreciate our volunteers across the state’s 22 chapters for their passion and dedication. It’s because of them that we’re able to further our mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage in Oregon and all across elk country,” said RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver.
RMEF has a long conservation history in Oregon. Dating back to 1986, it worked alongside partners to complete 1,139 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects that conserved or enhanced 897,226 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 158,493 acres. The combined value of that work is more than $104.8 million.
Below is a list of projects by location.
Benton County
- Supply funding support for the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area Youth Pheasant Hunt – an opportunity for new hunters to experience bird hunting for the first time and for more experienced youth to prepare for the next hunting season (also benefits Clackamas, Deschutes, Jefferson, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington and Yamhill Counties).
Deschutes County
- Supply funding to advance the Bend to Suttle Lake Wildlife Passage Initiative, an effort by state and federal agencies, nonprofits, tribal partners, landowners and other organizations to improve habitat connectivity of mule deer and other wildlife, as well as motorist safety along a 35-mile stretch of Highway 20 in the Deschutes National Forest. The funds help finalize engineering and design for crossing locations identified during the feasibility study–a necessary precursor to building wildlife crossing structures (also benefits Jefferson County).
- Remove encroaching conifers across 60 acres of meadow habitat on the Deschutes National Forest’s Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District benefiting everything from big game to pollinators. Supply scholarship funding for Three Rivers Archers, a program for youth ages 8 to 18 that teaches skills and respect for hunting and the archery shooting sports.
- Provide funding for the Mountain View High School Clay Target League so participants can learn firearm safety and responsibility while competing during spring and fall seasons.
Grant County
- Enhance 300 acres of aspen habitat in the Blue Mountain Ranger District of the Malheur National Forest by removing encroaching conifers, building protective fencing and installing earth berms to deter illegal off-roading travel. The work is part of a 13,500-acre landscape-scale project that began in 2010.
- Remove encroaching junipers across 660 acres to boost palatable shrub and bunchgrass for elk and other wildlife on the Blue Mountain Ranger District in the Malheur National Forest.
- Thin juniper and conifer encroaching on native grasses and bitterbrush across 150 acres of critical elk winter range on the Ochoco National Forest’s Paulina Ranger District. Mule deer, pronghorn antelope, turkeys and sage grouse also benefit.
- Treat 646 acres of invasive annual grass species that degrade winter elk range on the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area near the John Day River, also benefitting bighorn sheep, mule deer, turkey, upland birds and other wildlife.
- Provide funding support for a Blue Mountain Elk Initiative Operations Committee field trip to highlight past, present and future projects on the Malheur National Forest and Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Management Area.
Harney County
- Thin encroaching juniper across 2,245 acres of crucial winter elk range in the Otis Mountain area managed by the Bureau of Land Management’s Burns District Office. The multi-year project also improves mountain shrub and sagebrush steppe habitat for mule deer, greater sage-grouse and pronghorn antelope.
Jackson County
- Supply funding support for the Scenic Middle School National Archery in the Schools Program, which fosters physical activity and skill development in a structured, safe and educational fashion.
- Provide funding for the St. Mary’s School Archery Team, a program for youth of all skill levels in grades 5-12 (also benefits Josephine County).
Klamath County
- Provide funding support for the Klamath Basin Archers, a youth archery program offering opportunities for all ages, especially those from low-income families.
Lake County
- Supply funding for Barb Hartnell Outback Adventures, a newly formed organization for youth from low income or other disadvantaged situations to engage in and gain an appreciation for archery and outdoor activities like camping, fishing, hiking and responsible stewardship efforts.
Lane County
- Provide funding support for Hunters SAFE, a nonprofit that teaches kids hunter safety education, hosting eight to nine classes per year.
- Supply funding for the Kids S.A.F.E Foundation, a firearm safety training program that engages more than 300 boys and girls and offers classroom instruction and hands-on, live fire range instruction (also benefits Benton, Clackamas, Douglas, Linn, Multnomah and Washington Counties).
Lincoln County
- Provide financial support to help grow the Lincoln County 4-H Shooting Sports Program to more than 150 youth.
Morrow County
- Modify 10.5 miles of woven wire fence into wildlife-friendly fencing to help elk and other wildlife better move across calving grounds and winter range on privately owned land.
Umatilla County
- Erect gates to help prevent illegal motorized disturbance to wildlife in the North Fork John Day Ranger District of the Umatilla National Forest. The area is home to about 5,000 elk as well as whitetail, mule deer and pronghorn antelope.
- Provide RMEF volunteer manpower to join others for a 2024 workday to thin and pile conifers across a 1.5-acre site in the Bridge Creek Wildlife Area. Such actions allow the re-establishment of grasses and shrubs while creating an opening to be a potential fuel break when fire occurs.
- Supply funding for the Athena-Weston-Helix Trap Club to build a trap shooting range so participants will not have to travel long distances to shoot trap. Thirty boys and girls in grades 6 through 12 participated.
Union County
- As part of a multi-year project, thin conifers across 1,062 acres of the La Grande Ranger District on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to improve habitat for elk, mule and whitetail deer, black bears, wild turkey, ruffed grouse and other wildlife. The project will also create a more resilient landscape and reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfire.
- Treat 2,000 acres of critical elk range on private land to remove invasive weeds and restore palatable forage for elk and other wildlife.
- Supply funding for research examining vegetation (elk forage) response following a 2021-2022 forest thinning project within Starkey Experimental Forest and Range. It will also show how native bees respond to the treatments at a time when populations are declining both worldwide and in Oregon.
Wallowa County
- Apply spot treatment for invasive weeds threatening to spread and negatively affect habitat for elk, mule and whitetail deer, black bears, blue and ruffed grouse, turkey and other species within the Minam River Wildlife Area (also benefits Union County).
- Apply invasive weed spot treatment on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and private lands in the Imnaha River watershed that supply important winter and summer range as well as calving habitat for elk. The project also benefits mule deer and other wildlife.
- Provide RMEF volunteers to take part in a 2024 workday at the Minam Wildlife Area to thin overstocked timber stands, cut and pile trees for burning, remove conifers pushing into aspen stands and plant bitterbrush and other vegetation to improve wildlife habitat.
- Supply RMEF volunteers to join partners for a 2024 workday to remove 3.1 miles of fencing on private land in the Bear Creek Access Area, which is part of a cooperative program that allows public hunting access on private land for elk, deer, turkey and grouse. Future volunteer projects aim to remove an additional 16+ miles of fencing.
- Supply funding for virtual fencing to replace more than 15 miles of barbwire fencing burned by the 2021 Double Creek Wildfire within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, which is prime year-round habitat for big game species including elk.
- Provide funding support for the Whitetail Legends 4-H Club, the only active archery club in the county for boys and girls ages 9-18 to learn and compete.
Washington
- Provide funding for the Aloha High School Clay Target Team, which participates in the US High School Clay Target League.
Statewide
- Provide funding support for the Oregon 4-H Shooting Sports Program, which serves more than 3,000 youth ages 9 to 19 in all 36 Oregon counties. Participants learn responsible use of firearms and archery equipment, skills to compete, hunting ethics and conservation.
- Supply financial support for Cross the Divide, an organization offering guided elk hunts and an introduction to a hunting family event for deserving veterans and their families.
- Supply scholarship funding for Yow’s Hunting Camps to host youth ages 9-18 and women 19 and up to learn about hunting and participate in skinning and animal processing, cooking, wildlife conservation education and shooting classes.
- Provide funding to support the Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s conference that addresses aspects of wildlife conservation related to research, technology, techniques and land management tools aimed at improving wildlife management.
Project partners include the Deschutes, Malheur, Ochoco, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State University, private landowners and individuals, and other sportsmen, conservation, civic, outdoor industry and business organizations.
(*Oregon received the funding in 2024, but its impacts carry over into current and future years.)
About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Now in its fifth decade of conservation accomplishment and fueled by hunters, RMEF has conserved more than 9.1 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation” ® at rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK.