Below is the latest article in a Volunteer Newsletter series dating back to January 2020 that highlights Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation volunteers by state in alphabetical order. In November 2024, the focus was on Virginia, so next up is the letter “w” and the state of Washington.
Washington is known for many things – rainforests and damp weather, apples, hilly wheatlands of the Palouse, coffee, the tech and aerospace industries, commercial fishing, towering mountain peaks, the scenic Puget Sound and much more.
And let’s not forget elk, some 50,000 of them–both of the Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain variety. And wherever you have wild elk, you will find Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation volunteers and members.
“Across Washington State, there are more than 10,000 RMEF members and 23 chapters, all doing what they can to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage in their own backyard and across the nation,” said Justin Hyland, RMEF regional director for eastern Washington.
The numbers bear that out. Since 1985, RMEF and its partners completed 818 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Washington with a combined value of more than $135.8 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 518,492 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 130,911 acres.
Dedicated volunteers, like those in other states, gather in committees to plan and host fundraising banquets and other events to generate dollars for RMEF’s mission. Each banquet is different in its own right.
For example, Chehalis is a small town of about 7,500 approximately halfway between the big cities of Seattle and Portland. On banquet night, if you have a reservation for the Chehalis Chapter’s shindig, you have one of the hottest tickets in the region. Attendees of all ages gather in a classic car museum, eat together and take part in raffles, games and auctions – one of which features art created that night by boys and girls.
Washington volunteers also don’t mind getting outside to go to work spicing up elk habitat. Projects range far and wide from identifying and treating invasive vegetation near Mt. St. Helens in southwest Washington to repairing water guzzlers left crippled by wildfire in the southeast part of the state. Others boost hunting heritage and outdoor opportunities like sponsorship of physically disabled and terminally-ill youth to attend the elk hunt of a lifetime through Youth Outdoors Unlimited.
“Our volunteers care about the world around them, each other and the landscapes that are important to elk and other wildlife. Year in and year out, they show that by giving us the most valuable thing in the world, their time. ,” said Alex Baier, RMEF regional director for western Washington.
Funding raised by volunteers most recently went to a unique project in central Washington where the Rimrock Retreat Fire of 2024 burned more than 45,600 acres of land and clogged up the Yakima-Tieton Main Canal, an historic manmade waterway that feeds 30,000 acres of apple orchards. RMEF supplied grant funding for a multi-phase effort to repair the canal, including rebuilding 31 wooden crossings destroyed by the fire that allow elk, mule deer and other wildlife to cross the canal to reach winter range and a feeding area. The fire also destroyed five wooden ramps placed in the canal when it is dry during the winter months so wildlife can escape.
Like its apple orchards and its scenic statewide beauty, the passion and dedication of RMEF volunteers is something else the state of Washington is known for.