Top 10 Hunting Permits Sold at Conservation Fundraiser

MISSOULA, Mont.—A record $1.6 million was raised for conservation via auctions held at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual convention, which concluded Feb. 24 in Reno, Nev.

Items sold included firearms, art, furniture, jewelry, Harley-Davidson motorcycle, log doghouse, handcrafted guitar, vacations, hunts and a sociable mule named Tulip.

Highlights of these annual fundraisers also include many special hunting permits sold in partnership with state and tribal conservation agencies. Monies raised are returned to these agencies for conservation projects, usually in elk country. In some cases, the Elk Foundation keeps a small percentage as a commission to supplement its own elk habitat protection and enhancement efforts.

Here are the Top 10 hunting permits sold at this year’s auctions:

1. $172,000
New Mexico Big Game Enhancement Package
Elk Foundation partner: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Includes tags for elk, deer, pronghorn, oryx and ibex valid for the 2008-09 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

2. $125,000
Arizona Special Elk Permit
Elk Foundation partner: Arizona Game & Fish Department. Includes one bull elk tag valid for the 2008-09 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

3. $95,000
Nevada Wildlife Heritage Rocky Mountain Elk Tag
Elk Foundation partner: Nevada Department of Wildlife. Includes one bull elk tag valid for the 2008 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

4. $90,000
New Mexico Special Elk Permit
Elk Foundation partner: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Includes one bull elk tag valid for the 2008-09 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

5. $71,000
New Mexico Special Deer Permit
Elk Foundation partner: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Includes one deer tag valid for the 2008-09 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

6. $65,000
Washington Special Eastside Elk Permit
Elk Foundation partner: Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Includes one bull elk tag valid for the 2008 season on any open lands in eastern Washington.

7. $40,000
Oregon Elk and Deer Combo Permit
Elk Foundation partner: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Includes one elk and one deer tag valid for the 2008 season on any open public lands or private lands with permission.

8. $39,000
Arizona White Mountain Apache Chairman’s Special Elk Permit
Elk Foundation partner: White Mountain Apache Tribe. Includes one bull elk tag valid for the 2008 season on most units within the White Mountain Apache Reservation.

9. $32,000
Montana Blackfeet Reservation Sheep Hunt
Elk Foundation partner: Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife Department. Includes outfitting services and one bighorn sheep tag valid for the 2008 season within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

10. $28,000
Montana Blackfeet Reservation Moose Hunt
Elk Foundation partner: Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife Department. Includes outfitting services and one moose tag valid for the 2008 season within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Forest Service and Elk Foundation Celebrate Elkhorn Ranch Project

MISSOULA, Mont.—To the average American eye, it’s a forgotten scrap of windswept prairie with horizons broken only by weathered fencerows. But to the American spirit of conservation, it’s sacred ground.

Today this North Dakota landscape—Theodore Roosevelt’s historic Elkhorn Ranch—is permanently protected, now held by the U.S. Forest Service, following a long, collaborative effort by reverent conservationists.

To celebrate the project, the Forest Service and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recently presented an Elk Country Award to dedicated federal employees who were instrumental in the success. The award, a bronze elk sculpture, was given during the Elk Foundation’s annual convention, which concluded Feb. 24 in Reno, Nev.

Ron Erickson of Forest Service Region 1 and Dave Pieper, Dakota Prairie Grasslands supervisor, accepted the award on behalf of their staffs.

“Acquiring this property from the Eberts family and transferring ownership to the Forest Service has permanently protected 5,200 acres for elk and other wildlife. This habitat is now immune to the land-development pressures increasing across the region,” said Tom Toman of the Elk Foundation. “Roosevelt used this ranch for grazing livestock and hunting, and both of those uses will continue into the future.”

The Boone and Crockett Club, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Elk Foundation’s Larry Baesler and Grant Parker also were recognized for leadership and considerable work in the project.

The Elkhorn Ranch (which will be managed as part of a 23,000-acre grasslands unit) provides crucial range for more than 100 elk in the Badlands of western North Dakota. It also provides valuable habitat for deer, turkeys, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions and sharp-tailed grouse.

Roosevelt often credited his years in North Dakota with building his outdoor ethic and philosophy. His Elkhorn Ranch has been called the “cradle of conservation” in America.