Below is a complete listing of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s 2016 grants for the state of Washington. Find more information here.
Asotin County—Apply noxious weed treatments to 1,500 acres on the W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area and Joseph Canyon region of the Chief Joseph Wildlife Areas to enhance habitat for elk and other wildlife (also benefits Garfield and Columbia Counties); apply noxious weed treatment to 450 acres of state and private lands north of the Grande Ronde River to benefit wildlife habitat; conduct a 1,750-acre prescribed burn to enhance forage and improve timber stand resilience to wildfire on state and Umatilla National Forest lands in the Dark Canyon area that serves as summer, winter and calving habitat for elk; and apply noxious weed treatments across 500 acres of public and private lands in the Lower Grande Ronde River watershed.
Cowlitz County—Thin 300-500 acres of timberland on the Hoffstadt and Mudflow Units of the Mount St. Helens Wildlife Area to promote a healthy and diverse forest that has the highest concentration of elk in the immediate area during the winter; provide funding and RMEF volunteer manpower to assist with planting trees and shrubs to improve riparian habitat along three miles of Bear Creek within the Mount St. Helen’s Mudflow Unit; apply noxious weed treatments across 150 acres in the Toutle River drainage and the Hummocks area within the Mount St. Helen’s Elk Herd area (also benefits Skamania County); and award an RMEF elk education trunk to the Mount St. Helen’s Visitor Center to provide more in-depth educational opportunities at a location that receives more than 50,000 visitors each summer.
Ferry County—Burn 619 acres to improve forage and reduce the accumulation of dense undergrowth and wildfire danger on the Colville National Forest as part of a multi-phase big game habitat project near Paradise Peak.
Grant County—Provide funding to grow participation and assist with the purchase of equipment for the Endeavor Middle School’s National Archery in the Schools program.
Grays Harbor County—Thin 400 acres of closed canopy stands to create better elk forage in the Crook Creek and West Fork Humptulips drainages on the Olympic National Forest where Roosevelt elk numbers are down.
Kittitas County—Pre-burn slash from 238 acres of overstocked conifer stands followed by prescribed fire on the Colockum Wildlife Area to enhance forage for elk and other wildlife and reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire event; thin and pile (in preparation for future prescribed burning) 250 acres of timber on the Oak Creek Wildlife Area (also benefits Yakima County), and provide funding for two fenced exclosures on the Heart K Ranch to protect riparian vegetation from excessive browsing.
Lewis County—Treat noxious weeds on 30 acres of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near the Cowlitz River that provides important winter range for deer and the South Rainier elk herd.
Okanogan County—Co-sponsored 21st annual Kids Fishing Day at Bonaparte Lake providing fishing and conservation instruction to youth ages 14 and under. (also benefits Ferry County).
Pierce County—Applied a combination of prescribed burning and herbicide treatment to 30 acres of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest to minimize weeds in critical winter habitat for elk and deer (also benefits King County).
San Juan County—Provide scholarship funding for 20 disadvantaged youth (age 12-16) to attend the Washington State Conservation Camp which offers education about conservation, wildlife and fisheries management, forestry, marksmanship, hunter safety and other outdoor-related activities.
Stevens County—Provide funding for the Colville Washington Youth Outdoor Experience, a program designed to attract and introduce youth to a competitive shooting and outdoor activities such as wildlife and habitat conservation; and provide funding to assist the Kettle Falls ClayBusters high school shooting sports club.
Yakima County—Provide funding to install/replace signage and posts along 562 miles of Green Dot System roads across the Naneum Ridge State Forest, Ahtanum State Forest and the Wenas and L.T. Murray Wildlife Areas to identify roads open to the public for motorized use while also providing protection for critical wildlife habitat including elk winter ranges and migration corridors, wetlands and riparian zones (also benefits Kittitas and Chelan Counties).
Statewide—Provide Torstenson Family Endowment (TFE) funding for the donation of 576 RMEF youth membership knives to hunter education classes across the state; provide volunteer manpower and scholarship funding for the Washington Outdoor Women program which is designed to motivate women and empower them to get into the outdoors with confidence and additional skills; and provide funding and other assistance to the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) to create a library of short videos highlighting WWRP and Lands and Water Conservation Fund conservation successes in Washington.