February 7, 2008
Elk Foundation Honored with First Theodore Roosevelt Legacy Award
MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is the recipient of a new award honoring the tenacious, collaborative spirit of America’s greatest conservationist, Theodore Roosevelt.
The first Theodore Roosevelt Legacy Award has been presented by the Boone and Crockett Club, a conservation and hunting organization that Roosevelt himself founded 121 years ago. The award recognizes the Elk Foundation’s role in acquiring and protecting Roosevelt’s historic Elkhorn Ranch near Medora, N.D.
The ranch is where Roosevelt developed his staunch conservation ethic and vision. Rugged and scenic, the land was purchased from willing sellers, the Eberts family, and transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in 2007. It was a landmark success following a two-year campaign led by Boone and Crockett Club with critical partnership from the Elk Foundation.
Andy Hoxsey, chairman of the board for the Elk Foundation, accepted the award during a Feb. 3 ceremony in Las Vegas.
“Cooperative partnerships are definitely the future of conservation. The Boone and Crockett Club has spent many decades developing key partners across state and federal governments, resource agencies, businesses and organizations. To be selected from their long list of partners is truly an honor for the Elk Foundation,” said Hoxsey.
David Allen, Elk Foundation president and CEO, added, “Any conservation organization would be honored and gratified to be mentioned alongside Theodore Roosevelt. There’s not a more authoritative acknowledgement that, together, our volunteers, members, donors and staff are an important resource for conservation today.”
The award recognizes the characteristics that Roosevelt valued in conservation partners, explains Lowell E. Baier, president of the Boone and Crockett Club
“Roosevelt understood the power of influential partners unified by strong leadership. He was a master at selecting the right people in the right places at the right time to do the right thing. These principles remain a cornerstone of the Boone and Crockett Club. Our Theodore Roosevelt Legacy Award is a special honor for a partner who best exemplifies this spirit,” said Baier.
In the Elkhorn Ranch project, the Elk Foundation brought essential expertise in legal, promotional and fundraising arenas.