Annual Report - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK FOUNDATION
Annual Report
2015
RMEF Board of Directors
Chairman
Chuck Roady
Bonners Ferry, ID
Vice Chairman
Lee Gamble
Philip Barrett
Mike Baugh
Russ Bumgardner
Scott Chester
Curtis Christiansen
Gary “Swede” French
T.W. Garrett
Andrew Hoxsey
Larry Irwin
Eric Johnson
Fred Lekse
Bill Madison
Don Moss
Randy Newberg
Vicki Peltonen
G.J. “Jerry” Pionessa
Linda Powell
Dennis Radocha
Diana Rupp
Michael Steuert Terry Sweet
Joe Treadway
Bob Wellman
Dandridge, TN
Newnan, GA
Molt, MT
Denham Springs, LA
Laurel, MT
Giddings, TX
Eagle Creek, OR
Cleveland, TX
Oakville, CA
Stevensville, MT
Jackson, WY
Charlotte, NC
Alturas, CA
Dayville, OR
Bozeman, MT
Bayfield, WI
Moultrie, GA
Summerfield, NC
Boise, ID
Torrance, CA
Roanoke, TX
Grand Junction, CO
Asheville, NC
Chewelah, WA
Founders & Lifetime Honorary Members
Charlie Decker
Bob Munson
Libby, MT
Lynnwood, WA
Officers
M David Allen Rodney Triepke Lori Parker President & CEO
Secretary & COO
Treasurer & CFO
The mission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is to ensure the
future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage.
WWW.RMEF.ORG
PRESIDENT’S & BOARD MESSAGE
A
M David Allen
President & CEO
Chuck Roady
Chairman of the Board
s we take the measure of 2015, the high
points for many of us were spending time
in the backcountry, mountains or the woods
chasing elk, deer and other game. Those outings
strengthen our relationships with family and
friends as well as our ties to scenic landscapes
and the wildlife we all cherish.
They also help re-energize our dedication to
what this organization is all about. It’s clear now
that 2015 was a year to remember for RMEF—
and one worth celebrating. We permanently
protected vital habitat in 8 states while opening
or securing public access to an all-time high of
75,922 acres of prime elk country last year.
Thanks to our passionate volunteers and
members and our many committed partners, we
helped carry out 227 habitat enhancement
projects to improve 142,188 acres of great wild
places for elk and an abundance of other
wildlife. The vast majority of those acres lay on
public lands. We also reached out to more youth
to pass on our hunting heritage.
Yet the loss, fragmentation and degradation
of habitat remain significant threats to elk and
other wildlife in the United States. The bedrock
of wildlife management and funding, known as
the North American Model of Wildlife
Conservation, is being threatened by a variety of
factors including a decrease in the number of
people who hunt. Loss of access to hunting
lands is consistently listed as the top reason for
hunter attrition.
The RMEF is also recognizing the crucial
need to get involved in issues related to elk,
hunting and conservation, and to urge our
membership to do the same. In 2015 we stepped
up and solidified working relationships with
members of Congress, federal and state agencies,
and state legislatures in order to better monitor
wildlife‑related issues. We advocated for the
Bipartisan Sportsman Act, Resilient Federal
Forests Act and full authorization of the Land
and Water Conservation Fund.
Financially, we finished the year in the black
and with endowments totaling more than
$46 million, leaving us primed to do more great
work moving forward. And perhaps our most
exciting statistic: RMEF ended 2015 with
219,750 members, a 7.1% increase over 2014.
This marks the second largest single-year
increase in members in RMEF history.
In December we held the Hunter & Outdoor
Christmas Expo in conjunction with our national
convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Expanding to
10 days in 2015, the show hosted 230 exhibiting
companies and attracted nearly 90,000
attendees.
We also saw promising growth in our social
media platforms. The RMEF has more than
400,000 followers on Facebook, over 28,500 on
Twitter and nearly 27,400 on Instagram.
Additionally, staff finalized work on our
Hunting is Conservation social media campaign
which launched in January 2016.
By almost any measure, we are in a better
place than we’ve ever been to do the most for
elk. In the following pages, we’ll show you how
we go about that. We hope it will inspire you to
support our cause and to help us do more for
elk country.
3
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
STAT E M E N T OF A C T I V I T I ES
S TAT EMEN T O F FI NANCI AL PO SI TI O N
REVENUES
AS SETS, LIABILITIES & NET AS SET SUMMARY
(thousands)
Net special events
$10,842
Net merchandise, royalty & advertising sales
Membership dues
3,211
10,739
(thousands)
Current assets
Investments
46,033
Property & equipment, net of depreciation
11,714
Conservation land holdings
2,374
21,589
Other assets
1,657
Land sales
3,080
Total assets
$81,096
Contract & grant revenue
2,381
Investment income (loss)
(618)
Current liabilities
6,844
Other income (loss)
(107)
Planned gift liabilities, net of current portion
1,251
Long-term debt, net of current portion
1,824
Donations (excluding conservation easements)
Conservation easements
Funds available for program & support services
9,033
$60,150
EXPENSES
Program services
53,057
Total liabilities
$9,919
Unrestricted net assets
28,504
Fundraising
3,551
Temporarily restricted net assets
10,876
Administration
1,796
Permanently restricted net assets
31,797
Total expenses
Increase in net assets
$58,404
$1,746
Total net assets
$71,177
Total liabilities & net assets
$81,096
The information above is derived from the 2015 financial statements audited by Clark Nuber P.S.
Complete audited statements can be seen at www.rmef.org, or request a copy at (800)225-5355.
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$19,318
FUNDRAISING 6%
91% PROGRAM SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION 3%
where your investment goes
money invested by program
22% MEMBERSHIP
HABITAT & WILDLIFE STEWARDSHIP 11%
HUNTING HERITAGE 8%
58% PERMANENT LAND PROTECTION
ELK RESTORATION 1%
5
YEAR IN REVIEW
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation helped ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and
our hunting heritage in 2015 thanks to achievements carried out through these programs:
Permanent Land
Protection & Access
RMEF seeks to protect and
keep elk country wild and
open to the public. We
achieve that through land
acquisitions, conservation
easements, real estate
donations and
access agreements.
2015 Total: 17 projects
protected 12,249 acres of
critical wildlife habitat in
eight states and opened or
secured public access to
75,922 acres.
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Habitat Stewardship
RMEF helps ensure that elk
and elk country remain
abundant and healthy by
working with federal, state,
tribal, university and
private partners to improve
forage, water, space and
cover for wildlife, and to
fund research and wildlife
management.
2015 Total: 227 projects
enhanced 142,188 acres
and advanced the science of
elk management across
26 states.
Hunting Heritage
RMEF strives to convey a
better understanding of the
vital link between hunting
and conservation while also
reaching out to the next
generation to help secure the
future of our hunting heritage.
2015 Total: 283 projects
reached 93,258 children
across the country. Another
39,532 people visited RMEF’s
educational displays at the Elk
Country Visitor Center in
Missoula, Montana.
Elk Restoration
RMEF helps reintroduce elk to
their historic ranges by
providing financial assistance,
offering volunteer manpower
and funding feasibility studies.
To date, RMEF has played a
vital role in bringing elk back
to Kentucky, Missouri, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia,
Wisconsin and Ontario.
2015 Accomplishments: RMEF
supplied funding and volunteer
manpower to assist continuing
restoration efforts in Wisconsin
and offered West Virginia
support for its plan to
restore elk.
TORSTENSON FAMILY ENDOWMENT
RMEF’s $34 million Torstenson Family Endowment
is one of the largest endowments ever given to a
hunter‑based, wildlife conservation organization.
Each year RMEF uses interest from the endowment
(the principal remains intact) to further core mission
programs of permanent land protection, habitat
stewardship, elk restoration and hunting heritage.
This allows RMEF to increase project funding by
attracting matching grants from both the private and
public sectors, thus aiding our ability to move swiftly
when key elk conservation opportunities arise.
In 2015, more than $1.6 million from the endowment
helped fund 70 projects in 24 states, including:
•$811,754 to permanently protect 2,619 acres and open
or secure public access to 33,344 acres of vital elk
habitat in six states
•$447,430 for habitat stewardship and management
projects in 15 states
•$404,367 to help fund hunting heritage projects across
the U.S.
•$15,844 to support elk restoration efforts in Wisconsin
A key focus of the Torstenson Family
Endowment is reaching out to young
people. This honors the legacy of Bob
Torstenson, who was deeply committed to
instilling a love of wild places and hunting
in future generations. In 2015, the
endowment awarded 12 elk education
trunks to schools, state parks and other
educational venues in nine states and one
Canadian province. The trunks contain
lesson plans, activities, books, antlers,
hides, skulls and other hands-on teaching
tools. The endowment also funded seven
college scholarships for outstanding
students majoring in wildlife biology,
supported the expansion of the
Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow
program that educates wildlife
professionals about the vital link between
hunting and conservation, allowed RMEF
to grant more than $105,000 to support
hunter education programs in nine states,
and funded other youth-oriented projects
and activities.
ACCESS ELK COUNTRY
The Challenge: Access Lost
In 1915 roughly 100 million people lived in the United States. Today, there are more than 321
million and climbing. This growth has had a two-fold impact on wildlife habitat and huntable
landscapes. Not only has development eliminated or diminished a huge amount of former elk
country, but there are now exponentially more people seeking the remaining open spaces.
Lack of access to quality hunting opportunities is the single biggest reason people stop hunting.
For those just hoping to start hunting, access is the largest hurdle.
SCOTT BOSSE
Thanks to the vision and relentless drive of Theodore Roosevelt and all the people who have
followed in his footsteps who believed that hunting is conservation, we have an amazing wealth
of federal public land. Those 640 million acres are owned by and open to every citizen in the
United States. It’s an incredible legacy that makes America unique in the world and supports
the huge majority of elk hunters each year. Unfortunately, when it comes to hunting and
recreation, it’s no longer enough.
Why It Matters
Hunters are by far the largest source of
funding for wildlife stewardship and
access. So losing access creates a
vicious spiral. Loss of access = fewer
hunters = less habitat, less stewardship,
lower-quality habitat and … even less
access. If our hunting and wildlife
conservation traditions are to survive, we
must work to provide this and future
generations access to high-quality hunting
experiences.
What We’ve Done: Access = Success
RMEF was founded by public-land hunters and we have
been committed to access from the beginning. So far,
RMEF has secured or improved public hunting access
on 852,628 acres of prime elk country in 21 states.
The lands RMEF acquires and permanently protects are
conveyed to a state or federal agency and opened to
public access. More than half of RMEF’s nearly 500
permanent land protection projects—acquisitions,
exchanges and conservation easements on private
lands—are now open to the public.
Key Tools:
Access Elk Country Initiative:
Getting Aggressive on Access
•Purchases or exchanges in areas of checker-boarded
public and private lands create big, unbroken expanses
of public elk country
RMEF launched the Access Elk Country Initiative at the close of 2015 with this
ambitious goal:
•Strategic acquisition of small parcels unlocks large
blocks of public land
5 x 50,000—We aim to open or secure access to 50,000 acres of public lands every year
for the next five years for a total of 250,000 acres of great elk country open to all.
•Re-routing roads or securing access easements
provides legal passage to sweeps of public land beyond
Can it be done? It’s aggressive, but there is no other way to be when it comes to the
fight to protect public access. And 2015 showed that this goal is attainable: RMEF
smashed our old high mark, opening access to almost 76,000 acres of excellent elk
country in seven states.
•RMEF is a proud charter sponsor of Outdoor Life’s Open
Country awards, which celebrate and stimulate fresh
ideas and good work by highlighting grassroots efforts
that create more opportunities for the public to hunt
• Seeking innovative ways to access private land.
Supporting proactive efforts like Access Yes! programs
in Idaho and Wyoming opens more high-quality private
land to public access, as well as creates access to
landlocked public land.
It would be easy enough to just run up numbers, but access only matters if the trail
leads to flourishing habitat. Our measure of success is whether you have a real
opportunity to encounter elk—and to walk out satisfied at the end of the day even
if you’re carrying nothing more than memories.
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EASTERN ELK INITIATIVE
Every bugle echoing through the hills and valleys of the Eastern
U.S. signals a new chapter in one of North American wildlife’s
greatest recovery tales. It’s the story of elk that’s still being
written, and RMEF is working hard to shape a happy ending.
Reintroducing elk to their historic ranges has been an RMEF goal
since 1990. When Europeans came to North America, as many as
10 million elk roamed the U.S. But overhunting and habitat
destruction took a brutal toll. By 1900, there wasn’t a wild herd
east of the Mississippi. Now RMEF is helping rewrite history,
most recently in the rolling hills of Wisconsin, where the Elk
Foundation has contributed more than $300,000 to
restoration projects in 2015 alone.
Since 1990, RMEF has worked with Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources to bring elk back, with the goal of having
almost 1,800 in the state. The northern Clam Lake herd now
numbers about 160. It was started in 1995 from an RMEF-funded
transplant of 25 Michigan animals.
Biologists identified a rich swath of forests and grasslands in
central Wisconsin as ideal habitat for a second herd, and in 2015,
26 Kentucky elk became the first of the Black River State Forest
herd. The five-year plan is to bring 150 Kentucky elk
to Wisconsin.
HABITAT
STEWARDSHIP:
LAND PROTECTION
& ACCESS:
27,000 ACRES
11,000 ACRES
ELK
MOVED:
FUNDRAISING
NEED:
250
$5.2 MILLION
RON SAFFER
eastern elk: 5-year goals
STEP 1: Rebuilding Numbers
•Vision: To see 17,000 elk roaming the countryside throughout the Eastern U.S.
• Already accomplished:
• Helped restore wild elk to six states (WI, KY, TN, NC, MO, VA) and Ontario, Canada
• Expanded the population and range of elk in other states where herds already existed (AR, MI, MN, PA)
• Invested in feasibility studies (IL, NY, MD), which are used by state agencies to determine restoration potential in their area
• An example of resourcefulness in 2015: RMEF volunteers in the Southwest Virginia Coalfields and West Virginia Hatfield McCoy chapters disassembled over 13,000 feet of holding pen fence in Virginia and transported it more than 100 miles to West Virginia. This saved West Virginia $50,000 to use for other aspects of the restoration project.
STEP 2: Enriching Habitat
•Vision: Establish stronger early successional habitats, where elk and other wildlife flourish
W OR K I N G FOR WA PI T I
•Already accomplished:
• More than 150 habitat projects already completed on Eastern lands
STATE
2015 ACRES
ENHANCED
STATEWIDE
2015
POPULATION
GOAL
POPULATION
STEP 3: Protecting Land
AR
1,557
700
N/A
•Vision: Protect key habitat areas which could include reclaimed private mine lands and new public lands,
and mitigate crop depredation and agricultural conflict
KY
12
10,000
10,000
MI
203
1,042
900-1,000
•Already accomplished:
MO
7,036
104-118
400
• More than 87,000 acres forever protected in the East
MN
434
180
150
• RMEF has secured conservation easements and purchased strategic parcels of land to be opened to the public
NC
562
no estimate
N/A
PA
1,986
821
600-800
STEP 4: Honoring the Hunt
TN
221
300-500
500
VA
435
100
400
WI
120
180
1,800
WV
650
no estimate
N/A
ON
-
612-1,005
1,000
• Methods of habitat enhancement include prescribed fire, plantings and mechanical treatment, which create landscapes that support numerous native plant and animal species
•Vision: Improve hunting experiences and protect our hunting heritage
•Already accomplished:
• Six Eastern states (AR, KY, MI, MN, PA, TN) now hold elk hunts, with roughly 1,300 people drawing tags
for this unique experience each fall
• Every Eastern state to receive RMEF funding to help establish hunting once local elk populations can support it
Note: Arkansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania restored elk prior to the
founding of the RMEF.
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HABITAT AND WILDLIFE STEWARDSHIP
RMEF works to enhance and restore habitat and improve the science of elk management in every state with wild, free‑ranging
elk. We partner with federal and state agencies, private landowners, industry, universities and other nonprofits to accomplish
this, helping to multiply the money we put on the ground and ensure a bright future for elk and other wildlife.
RMEF’s habitat and wildlife stewardship accomplishments in 2015:
Enhanced 142,188 acres through 227 habitat and wildlife stewardship projects on public and private lands in 27 states, including:
12
prescribed burns
noxious weeds
reducing encroachment
Using prescribed fire to rejuvenate
more than 53,000 acres in 14 states.
These burns give rise to grasses, forbs
and browse species and bring
grasslands and forests back into
succulent early‑growth stages. Case in
point: RMEF helped fund this 320‑acre
burn in Wyoming, reducing encroaching
limber pine and juniper from a critical
elk calving area on Bureau of Land
Management acres in Crooks Creek.
Combatting the spread of noxious weeds that
outcompete native vegetation. RMEF‑sponsored
projects fought these invaders across more than
18,300 acres of prime elk habitat in 11 states,
using herbicides, hand-pulling and biocontrol.
For example: RMEF helped fund spraying of
yellow toadflax, spotted knapweed,
houndstongue and musk thistle infestations at
Montana’s Bear Creek Wildlife Management
Area and on surrounding national forest
lands—critical winter range for elk, mule deer,
pronghorn and white-tailed deer along the west
flank of the Madison Range.
Reducing pinyon and juniper
encroachment on more than 21,700 acres
in six western states to restore sagebrush
steppe and native grassland habitat, free
up groundwater resources and help
prevent large-scale wildfires. This work
reinvigorated places like the Sandledges
area near Richfield, Utah, where RMEF
funds helped pay for a work crew to lop
off and scatter pinyons and junipers that
had overrun 1,951 acres of public
grassland and sagebrush used by elk,
mule deer and greater sage grouse.
water sources
Constructing and repairing wildlife water
sources such as guzzlers, spring
developments and ponds at more than
40 locations to provide elk and other
wildlife with reliable water in suitable
habitat and during severe drought. Places
like Fort Hunter Liggett in California,
where a $15,000 grant from RMEF helped
fund installation of two guzzlers to provide
wildlife with water during dry summers
and falls that have been straining the area’s
tule elk population. The guzzlers should
also lessen roadkill by keeping elk and
other wildlife from needing to cross
highways for water on nearby
agricultural lands.
elk research
predator management
Conducting elk research led by universities
and state wildlife management agencies to
provide biologists with sound, scientific data
for effective elk and elk habitat management,
RMEF participated in more than 30 such
studies in 2015. One of them was in Great
Smoky Mountains National Park where
RMEF helped biologists there monitor this
herd since it began as an experiment in 2001.
Most recently, Elk Foundation funds paid for
radio-collars, radio-telemetry equipment and
other supplies needed for population
monitoring. Park staff captured nine adult
elk and nine calves in spring 2015, fitting all
with radio-collars and discreet identification
tags. This makes 41 adult elk that are now
being monitored with radio-collars in the
GSMNP herd.
Strongly advocating for the state management of
wolves and other predators, RMEF fully endorses the
North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and
supports science-based management of all wildlife.
RMEF provides grant funding specifically for wolf
management, including $100,000 for efforts in Idaho
and Montana in 2015. The grants provided for more
collaring, remote camera work, and both aerial and
ground tracking to better document wolf pack locations,
size and home ranges, and overall population numbers,
as well as resolving wolf conflicts associated with
livestock depredation. In addition, RMEF is actively
engaged in predator management by providing official
public comment, encouraging state-based predator
management, including the delisting of wolves, and
working with members of Congress, other federal and
state agencies, state and local lawmakers, RMEF
members, and sportsmen and women to do the same.
HUNTING HERITAGE
When we changed our mission statement in 2012 to include “our hunting heritage,” it was a decision to
look to the future. We live in an era marked by competition—competition for our children’s attention and
time. How do we help them become hunters and stay hunters, to care about conservation?
Project success
To date, the RMEF has funded more than 3,700
projects and assisted in teaching more than
7.4 million people about hunting ethics, hunter
safety and the North American Model of
Wildlife Conservation. Our five-year goal is to
reach 1 million people through state grants,
hunting heritage programs and other state and
chapter events.
HU N T IN G H E R I TAG E O U T R E A C H
PROGRAM
PARTICIPANTS
Total State Grants, SAFE Challenge Program, etc.
93,079
Total Direct Outreach Reported - National Programs / Sponsorships
179
Total Direct Outreach Reported - RMEF Elk Country Vistor Center
39,532
Total People reached in 2015 Hunting Heritage and Conservation Direct Outreach
132,790
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NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2015
RMEF supports hunting heritage
programs for youth such as the National
Archery in the Schools Program.
The Team Elk television
show continues to run on
the Outdoor Channel, which
reaches 40 million viewers
in 50 different countries.
BUGLE
We’re reaching out to members via
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
and Elk Tracks, the RMEF’s blog.
Bugle magazine continues to be
the major membership benefit,
touting a readership of 400,000.
In 2015, we delivered 12 elk trunks to
grade‑school students from Idaho to
Missouri to Massachusetts. The trunks
are packed with educational materials
from elk skulls to scat (replicas of
course). Over the years, each trunk
reaches upward of 2,500 kids.
In late 2013, the RMEF created its
youth membership program. We
aim to increase youth membership
by 2,000 members every year.
The RMEF partnered with hunter education programs
across the country to distribute orange vests and/or
youth knives to more than 100,000 future hunters.
We created and produced the Life of Elk
video, which is featured in the RMEF’s
Elk Country Visitor Center in Missoula
and distributed in elk education trunks.
Samantha Block, one of seven 2015
Wildlife Leadership Award recipients.
Since 1991, RMEF’s Wildlife Leadership Awards have recognized
some our nation’s brightest students in wildlife. This scholarship
fund grew in 2006 thanks to a memorial given by the family of
Gerald L. Turpin, an avid elk hunter killed in a logging accident. In
2013, RMEF’s Torstenson Family Endowment boosted it further,
continuing the late Bob Torstenson’s legacy of conservation
education. All recipients get a $3,000 scholarship and a one-year
RMEF membership. Past winners have gone on to become leaders
in their professions, and RMEF is proud to have helped them along
their path. In 2015, the RMEF awarded seven scholarships.
15
MEMBERSHIP & VOLUNTEERS
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s success as one of the
nation’s premier wildlife conservation organizations is rooted in the
commitment of our volunteers and the support of our members.
members
They are the lifeblood that keeps RMEF
growing—and we’re happy to announce
that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Last year marked the seventh
consecutive year of record membership
for RMEF. Members numbered 219,750
strong as of December 31, 2015. That’s
a 7 percent growth in membership last
year alone, and the largest single year of
growth since 2010.
Looking ahead
As membership grows, RMEF is focused on growing our volunteer base. Our
11,000‑plus volunteers make up less than 1 percent of the active elk hunters in North
America. Imagine what we could accomplish with 20,000, or even just 15,000?
Our goal is to recruit 800 new volunteers in 2016. To do so, we recognize we need to
invest more in this sector, so RMEF has introduced a Core Volunteer Campaign
with incentives for those who pledge their help to RMEF in 2016:
•Those who recruit or become a new volunteer are automatically entered into a
drawing for 29 gift packages from RMEF sponsors. Prizes include items from
Danner, Buck Knife, Yeti, Vortex, a Traeger grill and a Rhino Metals safe
“We are grateful for so many men and women who support and value conservation
and our mission. We don’t take this influx of new members lightly. We will
continue to do all in our power to conserve and enhance elk habitat, create new and
improved access opportunities for hunters and remain active in issues impacting
the future of wildlife and our hunting heritage.”
In 2015, RMEF volunteers:
•Numbered more than 11,000 coast to coast
•Actively served on committees in more than 500 RMEF chapters
•Gave more than 7,200 hours of volunteer time for on-the-ground
projects across the country
•Stepped up for on-the-ground projects in 28 states, utilizing more
than 760 volunteers in over 90 chapters
•Spearheaded more than 80 projects that benefitted habitat and
wildlife in the field and educated youths and adults through
hunter education programs and SAFE events
—David Allen, RMEF president and CEO
Volunteers
Having our membership at an all-time high is outstanding, but it is the
dedication of our volunteers that allows RMEF’s mission to reach a
higher level.
In fact, even though only 1 out of every 20 members are volunteers,
the money they raise annually eclipses membership proceeds in
supporting the Elk Foundation’s mission. At RMEF, the size, health,
strength and leadership of each chapter’s committee are vital to our
success. Volunteers also commit time, sweat and talent helping with
on-the-ground stewardship projects and raising funds that are put
back into their own backyards to bolster RMEF’s mission.
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FRIENDS OF THE FOUNDATION
The primary ways individuals, companies and organizations supported the RMEF in 2015:
Memberships
Nearly 220,000 supporting, sustaining,
sponsor, outfitter and life members from
around the world backed the RMEF and its
mission to ensure the future of elk, other
wildlife, their habitat and our
hunting heritage.
Annual Giving Program
Seeking to further the mission, generous
RMEF members and volunteers
donated more than $2,317,000 through
annual giving.
Workplace Giving
The Combined Federal Campaign is one of
the most beneficial workplace giving
programs for the RMEF. It allows federal
employees and military personnel to
support their favorite charities through
payroll deductions. This program,
combined with other workplace giving
programs, generated more than $130,000
for RMEF in 2015.
Matching Gifts
Habitat Partners
Many employers will match an employee’s
cash donations, volunteer hours, auction item
purchase (above fair market value) and
portions of sponsor or life memberships
through corporate matching gift programs. In
2015, nearly 50 companies matched
employee’s gifts to the RMEF, contributing
more than $85,000 to further the mission.
The Habitat Partner program recognizes
major donors for their philanthropic
donations. Their cumulative giving begins at
$2,500. Individual and corporate Habitat
Partners donated nearly $2.5 million to
conserve elk country in 2015.
Memorials & Honoraria
RMEF creates memorials and honoraria at the
request of families and friends who wish to
remember or honor their loved ones through a
gift for wildlife habitat conservation. In 2015,
donors contributed more than $36,000
through this program.
Corporations stood shoulder-to-shoulder
with the RMEF through sponsorships, Bugle
magazine advertising and affinity
partnership programs. These businesses also
donated products and services, contributed
royalties through licensing agreements and
sponsored RMEF events totaling $3.3 million
in 2015.
Trails Society
Foundation Support
The Trails Society recognizes those who use
their estate plans to make elk country a better
place for the generations to come. Nearly 350
Trails Society members have advanced the
RMEF’s mission through planned gifts either
during their lifetime or through a
testamentary gift.
Private, corporate, state and federal
foundations supported habitat enhancement
projects, permanent protection of critical elk
range and programs that taught thousands
of children and adults about conservation
and North America’s hunting heritage to the
tune of more than $2.3 million in 2015.
Corporate Partnerships
Back in the mid 1980s a friend of mine told me about a new wildlife organization he discovered called the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He showed me a
Bugle magazine. I joined at the first big game banquet held at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas in 1986 or 1987 where I met Bob Munson, Charlie Decker and
a lot of wonderful people. Right away I knew this was THE organization for me. These people had hung their hat on ELK—not just for ELK, but for ALL
wildlife. I liked that. Since then, I have supported the RMEF by maintaining my membership as a Sponsor, Life Member, Trails Society Member, and Habitat
Council Member, and by participating on the local committee since 1991 and attending every Elk Camp since 1988. What I see with RMEF, its members and
staff are a lot of like-minded people with one purpose: to maintain and protect HABITAT for ELK and all WILDLIFE because without habitat we have nothing.
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—Robert Bobbett, Jr., Life Member, Sponsor Member, Volunteer, Trails Society and Habitat Council Member
HABITAT COUNCIL
RMEF Habitat Council members–those who have donated cumulative philanthropic
gifts of $10,000 or more–gathered in Park City, Utah, in June 2015 for the annual
Summer Habitat Council Meeting and Retreat, and again in December at our Elk
Camp national convention in Las Vegas. The events gave Habitat Council members
the opportunity to talk with and provide input to the president and CEO, chairman of
the board and executive staff. Highlights of the three-day Utah retreat included a
project tour of the Seventh Heaven Ranch, and trips to the historic High West
Distillery and Saloon, Browning factory outlet store, and Park City’s Olympic Park,
site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
There is something remarkable and unique about the RMEF.
For one thing, it really is not just an organization whose
“membership benefits” amount to little more than having your
name on a mailing list and receiving a magazine or plaque on
the wall. When you join the RMEF you don’t just belong to
it—it belongs to you. You become a member of a family that
shares the same passion for all that nature has to offer. By
protecting land and improving habitat for big game, you are
protecting a resource that, once gone, can never be replaced.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the
things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So don’t
hesitate to help support RMEF with the challenges of
dwindling resources and habitat for Mother Nature.
—Debra Surface, Habitat Council,
Trails Society, Banquet Sponsor,
Life Member
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IT HAS IT ALL—From the plunge of Tenderfoot Falls to massive aspen stands, dark spruce
pockets and sub-alpine meadows, this stretch of central Montana is a paradise for elk and
other wildlife. People, too. It took nine years of dogged work to acquire 16 pieces of
private land checkerboarded up Tenderfoot Creek, vital tributary of Montana’s legendary
Smith River. But it now forms one solid 20,000-acre block of great elk country. And every
foot of it is open for the public to hunt, fish and simply enjoy. If ever there was a win for
wild elk, wild trout and the common man worth bugling about, this was it.
COVER PHOTO: DONALDMJONES.COM
tenderfoot creek, montana