MISSOULA, Mont. — Help is on the way for elk, ruffed grouse, woodcock, turkey, whitetail deer and many other wildlife species across the Great Lakes and Appalachian States.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) entered into a three-year conservation agreement to maintain and enhance habitat within priority areas across Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, while improving hunting opportunity.
“This agreement allows two long-time, hunter-based conservation organizations to pool our combined energy and resources to carry out meaningful and measurable conservation work,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “We appreciate our RGS & AWS partners in this bold, new endeavor.”
RMEF will supply annual grant dollars to be used as private match funding for RGS & AWS forest management work.
”Ruffed grouse hunters and elk hunters share an appreciation for challenging, truly wild pursuits. We also understand the responsibility to steward these treasures. It feels great to partner with RMEF and get started on greater habitat outcomes than either of us could accomplish alone,” added Ben Jones, RGS & AWS president and CEO.
RMEF’s Eastern Elk Initiative seeks to grow elk populations in the East by conserving and enhancing habitat for elk and other wildlife while opening or improving greater public access. It further aims to support elk hunting opportunities throughout the eastern states.
RGS & AWS efforts focus on active forest management to improve wildlife habitat. The organization is sustainably building networks that leverage local fundraising with public and private dollars for landscape-scale habitat work.
About the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society
RGS & AWS unites conservationists to improve wildlife habitat and forest health for ruffed grouse, American woodcock and all forest wildlife. The tenets of sound science in wildlife and forestry have guided RGS & AWS for over sixty years and onward. Learn about RGS & AWS at RuffedGrouseSociety.org
About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded more than 39 years ago and fueled by hunters, RMEF maintains more than 225,000 members and has conserved more than 8.7 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.