DENVER — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, along with its partners, have allocated more than $3.7 million for 33 wildlife-related projects across Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), which has more members in Colorado than any other state, made the announcement in late October.
“This funding supports the largest single-state elk population in North America by bolstering five ongoing research studies, seven wildlife-friendly fencing efforts and 10 habitat enhancement projects,” said Jenn Doherty, RMEF managing director of mission operations.
Tami Roberts
It also allocated more than 340,000 to defeat Proposition 127, which Doherty called a "reckless anti-hunting ballot initiative." Prop 127 seeks to ban the hunting and trapping of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx. While proponents say the ban would clean up the hunting community, opponents believe it's the latest example of "ballot box biology." Learn more about Prop 127 here.
The foundation said it allotted $761,760 that helped leverage $2,807,421 in partner funding for the 33 projects in 2024. Many of them carry into next year, the foundation added.
Below is a list of those projects, as described by RMEF:
- Archuleta County:
- Provide volunteer manpower to remove more than a mile of old fencing and other debris from an RMEF land conservation and access project completed several months earlier (the property features habitat for elk and other animals). The parcel lies within a major elk migration corridor and is a popular hunting and recreation area in the San Juan National Forest.
- Boulder County
- Supply volunteers to remove more than one mile of old barb wire fencing from Rabbit Mountain, which supports abundant wildlife.
- Chaffee County
- Remove dense or diseased lodgepole pine across 911 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office to improve forage quality and quantity on elk winter range.
- Supply funding support for a study to help determine the impacts of development and increased recreation across summer and winter elk range on land managed by the Pike-San Isabel National Forest and BLM Royal Gorge Field Office.
- Custer County
- Treat 80 acres to reduce invasive weeds and allow native grasses, forbs and shrubs to prosper on the Upper Red Cliffs Ranch State Wildlife.
- Delta County
- Provide funding and volunteer support for Outdoor Heritage and Safety Day. This free family-friendly event encourages youth to try out archery, shooting, fishing and other outdoor hobbies while learning about wildlife management and conservation.
- Eagle County
- Burn 1,500 acres in the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District on the White River National Forest to enhance forage quality for elk and other wildlife species.
- Supply funding to support new research monitoring movement in elk and mule deer migration corridors on land managed by the White River National Forest and BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office. The study will also begin to assess elk and mule deer responses to gray wolves, which were reintroduced in Colorado in December 2023.
- Supply funding for research looking at the impacts of outdoor recreation on wintering elk in the Eagle Holy-Cross Ranger District on the White River National Forest, including the effectiveness of seasonal trail closures.
- El Paso County
- Provide funding assistance to help the Pikes Peak Orange Crush, a competitive youth clay shooting team.
- Grand County
- Treat 500 acres for invasive weeds in the backcountry of the Arapaho National Forest’s Sulphur Ranger District to enhance habitat for wildlife.
- Supply funding for the Grand County 4-H Shooting Sports Program.
- Provide volunteers to remove one mile of woven wire fencing on land managed by the BLM Kremmling Field Office.
- Jefferson County
- Provide volunteers to help remove invasive weeds from 6.5 miles of meadow habitat within Golden Gate Canyon State Park.
- Las Animas County
- Repair a wildlife water source on the Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Area.
- Treat noxious weeds across 450 acres of meadows and canyon bottoms.
- Moffat County
- Supply funding for research focusing on elk herd health and calf survival as well as elk response to increasing human recreation.
- Buy cattle collars to implement a virtual fencing system on a grazing allotment near the Colorado-Utah border.
- Replace barb wire fencing with a virtual fence system within the Routt National Forest’s Hahns Peak-Bears Ears Ranger District and nearby private land to improve movement across one the most heavily used elk migration corridors in northwest Colorado.
- Provide funding for research examining how elk learn to migrate. GPS collars will track movements of cow elk and calves from birth through adulthood.
- Montrose County
- Work with a landowner to conserve and protect 1,049 acres of critical migration corridor habitat for more than 7,000 elk and other wildlife near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
- Park County
- Build a year-round, 1,200-gallon water source for elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and other wildlife on the James Mark Jones State Wildlife Area.
- Supply volunteers to help remove one mile of old fencing on the Pike-San Isabel National Forest’s South Park Ranger District.
- Pueblo County
- Supply funding for the Pueblo West Sportsman’s Association to train additional range safety officers.
- Rio Blanco County
- Implement a series of habitat treatments including prescribed fire, thinning, seeding, invasive weed treatment, sagebrush restoration and wildlife-friendly fence upgrades on the White River National Forest’s Blanco Ranger District.
- Help purchase materials and provide volunteers to replace old horse corral panels and gates on the Jensen and Oak Ridge State Wildlife Areas.
- San Miguel County
- Thin 545 acres and create small openings within timber stands on elk summer range within the Norwood Ranger District of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests to improve plant diversity and wildlife habitat, promote forest health and reduce fuels and the risk of wildfire.
- Teller County
- Provide funding for Outdoor Skills Day at Colorado’s Mueller State Park.
- Statewide
- Provide funding for the Rocky Mountain Heroes Foundation to organize mentored hunts for first-time youth hunters.
- Supply funding for the Hunter Field Engagement Course at the Cameo Shooting and Education Complex.
- Allot funding to support Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management.
- Provide funding for Of Mountains and Men, a nonprofit that hosts mentored big game hunts for boys ages 12 to 17 primarily without fathers and/or from the inner city.
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