Thanks to a recent allocation from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partners, the cumulative amount of funding for 2021-2024 forest restoration work exceeds $10 million across the West.
As of August 1, approximately 28,000 wildfires scorched more than 4.2 million acres since the beginning of 2024, with nearly 100 large fires actively burning. RMEF is a long-standing proponent of active forest management for the benefit of wildlife and riparian habitat, wildfire mitigation and overall forest health.
“Wildfires not only threaten human lives and property, but they have devastating consequences for our forests and the elk, mule deer, moose, turkey, upland birds and a myriad of other fish and wildlife species that live there,” said RMEF President/CEO Kyle Weaver. “We thank our partners, members, volunteers and others for this funding that helps restore and enhance wildlife habitat on landscapes impacted by wildfires.”
The 2024 treatments (see list below) span work in Arizona, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. RMEF allotted $381,371 to help leverage more funding from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other participating organizations.
Since 2021, RMEF and its partners set aside $10,697,215 for 50 wildfire rehabilitation efforts in the previously mentioned six western states as well as Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington. RMEF volunteers assisted in several of the projects.
2024 projects as of August 1, 2024:
Arizona – restore two wildlife water developments & add three more in an area affected by the Pipeline Fire (2022) on the Coconino National Forest
Montana – reforestation, thinning & prescribed burning to restore critical elk migration corridor habitat on private land severely burned by the Harris Mountain Fire (2021)
Oregon – install virtual fencing to replace 15+ miles of traditional fencing destroyed in the Double Creek Fire (2022) on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Nevada – invasive weed treatment to restore degraded habitat within burns scares in the South Pequop & Toano Mountains on BLM Elko District Office land
Utah – reseed critical habitat within burn scars of the Thompson Ridge Fire (2023) on Fishlake National Forest
Wyoming – invasive weed treatment to help recover native perennial forbs & grasses impacted by the Ryan Fire (2018) on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests
About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:????
Founded in 1984 and fueled by hunters, RMEF has conserved more than 8.9 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.?
