(Photo credit: Toni Kahnke)
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partner organizations allotted $7,817,641 in 2024 to help elk, mule deer and other wildlife, their habitat and an assortment of conservation and hunting heritage projects across Wyoming.
“This grant funding bolsters everything from restoring riparian habitat and treating invasive weeds to removing or modifying old fencing and improving public access to both public and private land for hunting and fishing,” said Shawn Kelley, RMEF northern Wyoming regional director. “Thirty-nine projects enhance more than 15,000 acres of wildlife habitat. That’s a big win for Wyoming.”
RMEF allocated $511,540 which helped leverage an additional $7,306,101 in partner funding.
“Our volunteers in Wyoming are a dedicated and energetic bunch. We thank them for helping generate these dollars that go back on the ground in their home state,” said RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver.
Since 1986, RMEF and its partners completed 1,000 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Wyoming with a combined value of more than $219.7 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 1,355,064 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 243,846 acres.
Below is a brief list of the projects, highlighted by county.
Albany County
- Remove 10 miles of old fencing on the Laramie Peak Wildlife Habitat Management Area and replace it with wildlife-friendly, four-strand fencing that allows big game to jump over or crawl under it. The management area offers crucial winter range for elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep.
- Convert five miles of old fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing on the Mule Creek Public Access Area. RMEF helped complete the Mule Creek project in 2024.
- Supply funding to work with a landowner to secure a permanent road access agreement to the northern half of the Laramie Peak Wildlife Habitat Management Area. Doing so increases public access by 3,765 acres.
- Provide funding for a permanent access easement along a private road on the northern end of the Pinto Creek Hunter Management Area. Without it, hunters must walk several miles to reach this area.
Big Horn County
- Treat 110 acres in the Bighorn National Forest’s Medicine Wheel Ranger District to restore aspen stands in the drainages of Brindle, Post and Grouse Creeks.
Carbon County
- Remove encroaching conifers and older, lower nutritional-quality shrubs from shrub and aspen communities across 5,800 acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, as well as private land. The project will improve habitat for elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse and other wildlife.
- Supply funding to buy GPS elk collars to document movement patterns across I-80 from Dana Ridge to Copper Cove. Data will help identify the best places to place wildlife crossing structures.
- Treat 200 acres of invasive weeds to help the recovery of native perennial forbs and grasses important to wildlife within the Ryan Wildfire burn scar on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
- Convert 3.5 miles of boundary fence between land managed by the BLM Rawlins Field Office and private land south of Hanna to wildlife-friendly specifications. The new fence increases habitat connectivity, decreases big game injury and entanglement, maintains proper grazing systems and reduces fence maintenance in an area used heavily by elk.
Fremont County
- Replace nine miles of fencing with wildlife-friendly fencing to restore natural movement across public and private land for elk and other big game species to ensure access to crucial winter range near Lander.
- Convert five miles of woven wire fencing along both sides of Highway 26 near Dubois that is currently an impediment for wildlife into wildlife-friendly fencing and clear vegetation right next to the highway to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.
- Remove encroaching conifers across 500 acres of winter, transitional and year-round elk, moose and mule deer range in the Washakie Ranger District on the Shoshone National Forest.
- Supply funding for the Wyoming Outdoor Weekend, a free family-friendly event featuring archery, fly casting, horse packing, orienteering maze, climbing and other activities that enrich the outdoor experience.
- Provide funding and volunteer support to remove old fencing on land administered by the BLM Lander Field Office to help elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, moose, bear, sage grouse and other animals better navigate the landscape.
Hot Springs County
- Provide funding for Hot Springs County 4-H Shooting Sports, a growing program for participants to take part in air rifle, air pistol, .22 rifle, .22 pistol, muzzleloader, shotgun and archery.
Johnson County
- Install 26 beaver dam analogs along Middle Fork Crazy Woman and Poison Creeks to promote willow and aspen growth on nine acres of private land wet meadow habitat. The area provides summer range for approximately 500 elk in the southern Bighorn Mountains.
- Supply funding for the Buffalo Stampede Trap Shoot, a first-time regional youth competitive trapshooting event with proceeds benefitting the trapshooting program at Buffalo High School.
- Provide funding in support of Troop 415 of the Boy Scouts of America for its camping and outdoor trips that prepare youth to become responsible, participating citizens and leaders through outdoor skills education and community involvement.
Lincoln County
- Provide funding for a permanent road access agreement across two private parcels to secure public access to 19,000 acres administered by the U.S. Forest Service and BLM north of Cokeville.
- Supply funding for the Star Valley Wyoming Youth Hunter Education Challenge, an event for youth ages 18 and under to compete in eight different disciplines including .22 rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader, archery, orienteering, wildlife identification, hunter safety trail and a hunter responsibility exam (also benefits Bear Lake, Bonneville, Sublette and Teton Counties).
Park County
- Modify five miles of old fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing on allotment and pastures that impede wildlife movement on public and private land within the eastern greater Yellowstone region.
- Supply funding for a new wildlife display at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Cody office to foster a better understanding and appreciation for wildlife and their habitat, local wild landscapes and the conservation work done in the region.
- Supply funding to map and inventory fencing in the Clark Fork and Wapiti Ranger Districts on the Shoshone National Forest. Data will highlight fence characteristics and conditions across areas that are important to migratory elk and other wildlife in the Absaroka Range, and help guide needed fence modification and removal.
Platte County
- Supply funding for a voluntary conservation agreement to conserve and protect 4,860 acres of wildlife habitat and working ranchlands on private land near Gleno.
- Treat 576 acres of invasive cheatgrass that threatens native plant communities on a private ranch in the foothills of the Laramie Range that provides year-round habitat for elk as well as crucial winter range for mule deer and seasonal range for bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope.
- Treat 900 acres of important elk and mule deer habitat on private land and land managed by the BLM Casper Field Office in the Laramie Range.
- Provide funding support for Platte County 4-H Shooting Sports to grow membership and help participants learn both life and safe shooting skills they can carry into adulthood.
Sheridan County
- Treat 800 acres of invasive grasses, such as cheatgrass and ventenata that have a profoundly negative impact on elk forage, in the Medicine Wheel and Tongue Ranger Districts on the Bighorn National Forest. Little Horn Canyon is both a wildlife migration corridor and home to elk calving grounds.
- Supply funding support for the Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt, an opportunity for mentoring and developing camaraderie between women that includes participation in hunter safety and firearms instruction, hunting, land ethics and conservation.
Sweetwater County
- Provide funding for a voluntary conservation agreement to conserve 1,762 acres of wildlife habitat and working agricultural lands on private land north of Farson.
- Supply funding support for Sweetwater County 4-H Shooting Sports, a program that teaches youth about firearms safety, marksmanship, sportsmanship and ethical behavior.
Teton County
- Treat invasive weeds across 1,500 acres of state-owned land that supports a diversity of wildlife.
Washakie County
- Replace outdated water conveyance structures to boost forage production on the Renner Wildlife Habitat Management Area as a benefit for migratory birds and elk winter range.
- Supply funding support for the Paintrock Hunter Mentor Program, which conducts mentored hunts for first-time youth deer or elk hunters and sponsors a community service project of donating venison to needy families (also benefits Big Horn, Hot Springs and Park Counties).
Statewide
- Provide funding to continue the mapping of migration and winter range on private land across the state. Doing so will help land trusts prioritize the establishment of voluntary conservation agreements to protect and conserve habitat for elk and other big game.
- Supply funding to bolster the state’s Access Yes program, which maintains and enhances hunter and angler access on private lands and inaccessible public lands. It also helps biologists better manage elk populations.
- Support for the Cody Archery Club’s K Bar Z 3D Archery Shoot, an event drawing more than 200 shooters from Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Utah.
- Provide funding to update the Wyoming Landowner’s Handbook to Fences and Wildlife guide for landowners, agricultural producers, nonprofits and businesses as well as federal, state and local agencies.
- Supply funding for Wyoming Disabled Hunters, a nonprofit that offers affordable and accessible outdoor experiences to hunters with disabilities from across the country.
Partners include the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Bureau of Land Management, Bighorn, Medicine Bow-Routt and Shoshone National Forests, private landowners, University of Wyoming and various hunting, conservation, civic and business groups.
About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded in 1984 and fueled by hunters, RMEF has conserved more than 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.