LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT IN CONSERVATION - The Elk Foundation will present the Wallace Fennell Pate Wildlife Conservation Award and bronze statue to Phillip Tawney - shown here with his black lab, Jake - of Missoula, Mont., on February 18, 1995 at the Elk Foundation's 11th annual International Elk Camp & Exposition in Albuquerque, N.M.

At their December 1994 meeting, the Foundation’s board of directors selected Montana attorney Phillip Tawney to receive the Elk Foundation’s 1994 Wallace Fennell Pate Wildlife Conservation Award.

Tawney has a long record of achievement in land and wildlife conservation in Montana and elsewhere. Hunters, ranchers and many conservation organizations strongly recommended him for the award.

When the Elk Foundation was just a small organization in Troy, Mont., Tawney saw the group’s potential and offered a hand. He brought his legal experience in the conservation arena to his work with the Foundation and helped create its solid base of habitat conservation. Tawney’s tireless efforts on behalf of the Foundation’s mission have been key to its success with both on-the-ground land projects and important fundraising.

The Elk Foundation presents this annual award in honor of Wallace Fennell Pate, the Foundation’s first president and chairman of the board. Pate, who died in 1993, dedicated his time and financial resources to protecting North America’s wildlife. The Elk Foundation selected Tawney from a group of distinguished conservationists from across the country for this year’s award.