MONTANA Elk in the Big Sky now have a little more room to breathe. Without frequent natural fires to trim their numbers, conifers have marched into parks and meadows in the Wisdom Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. It took the trees about a hundred years, but they finally started crowding out 250 to 300 elk from the Pioneer herd that need the open space for winter range. The Elk Foundation funded a 496-acre slash-and-burn project as a decisive first step to restore the sagebrush and grassland parks to their natural state.

ARIZONA
As part of the Youth Conservation Corps, a lucky bunch of teens spent four weeks this past summer building and maintaining trails and fences, fighting invasive weeds and developing springs in the Prescott National Forest. The Elk Foundation helped fund this residential program that includes 40 youths ages 15 to 18, part of a team effort of the Prescott National Forest, the Henry Dahlberg Foundation and others. Meanwhile, the competitive youth team at Maricopa County Straight N Arrow Archery will be looking good in slick new Elk Foundation logo uniforms. They should be shooting better, too, after practicing on 14 new Rinehart 3-D archery targets. An Elk Foundation State Grant helped fund the team, which sends competitors to state and national tournaments and even on to the U.S. Olympic Team.

CALIFORNIA
Both motorists and wildlife lose when an elk herd’s best habitat is separated from its main water source by a highway. Such was the case for tule elk of the Cache Creek herd, which often haunt the folds of 16,513-acre Bear Valley Ranch just north of the Cache Creek Wildlife Area. They’ve traditionally used Salt Creek as a primary water source, but nearby Highway 20 has proven fatal for too many. The Elk Foundation helped fund installation of two water sources on other portions of the ranch away from the danger and disturbance of the highway. The California Rangeland Trust holds a conservation easement on 12,893 acres of the Bear Valley Ranch.

COLORADO
In Colorado’s legendary San Juan Mountains, the Elk Foundation helped fund a prescribed burn on 1,694 acres in the Piedra area northwest of Pagosa Springs. Over the next 10 years, forest managers plan to treat a total of 15,000 acres. Decades of fire suppression have led to an unnaturally high density of trees and shrubs which impede the growth of grasses and forbs vital to wildlife. The Piedra area provides plenty of water and cover for elk, mule deer, Abert’s squirrels and other wildlife, but the thick forest has limited their forage.

NEW YORK
An Elk Foundation state grant helped purchase a LaserShot simulation system for New York’s 4-H Shooting Sports program. RMEF volunteer William Shwerd helped the 4-H haul the system around from county fair to county fair and all the way up to the state fair in Syracuse. The simulator introduced a variety of audiences to shooting. Kids shooting for the first time took to it quickly for its video game qualities, and those familiar with firearms improved their skills with lessons on shotguns, rifles, shoot/don’t shoot and firearm safety. When the simulator isn’t running the fair circuit, it will be used in 4-H Shooting Sports courses, hunter education courses and community events statewide.

	WASHINGTON The Tacoma Urban League helped seed native forage on crucial Roosevelt’s elk winter range near the South Fork of the Skokomish River, as part of an Elk Foundation-funded project. They planted pearly everlasting, fireweed and paintbrush to help reinvigorate a decommissioned forest road. The Washington Conservation Corps then planted conifers and willows. Two more miles are planned for seeding in 2008, including transplants of vine maple, big-leaf maple, sword fern, bear grass, willow, huckleberry and conifers.

OKLAHOMA
After an ice storm laid thousands of trees and limbs across roads and fire lines on the Spavinaw Wildlife Management Area in northeastern Oklahoma, the Elk Foundation chipped in to help clear the debris. These roads and fire lines allow the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to uphold its renowned prescribed fire program. The work helped managers to safely burn almost 4,000 acres. In coming years, the department will continue to burn frequently to mimic the historic fire regime and improve forage for elk, deer, quail and turkeys.

SOUTH DAKOTA
You’ve got to convince an elk that is has everything it needs underfoot to keep it from jumping a fence into greener pastures. Water is a scarce resource in Custer State Park, and thirsty elk now have more reason to stay put, thanks to an Elk Foundation-funded project to build four wells and water catchments on the dry east side of the park. Keeping elk off private lands is key to ensuring landowner tolerance in the area. Few streams flow year-round here, and the solar-powered pumps provide a continuous flow, enhancing riparian vegetation and providing habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds and fish. Mule and white-tailed deer, antelope and bison will also benefit. The catchments will also serve as a backup water source for wildland firefighters.

TEXAS
The Washington County Shooting Club in Brenham, Texas, enlisted Elk Foundation funds to help purchase equipment for its junior marksmanship team. The club has trained thousands of 4-H kids, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts since 1965 and has even sent students to the Junior Olympics. It also works with the Marine Corps Junior ROTC through a local high school. With help from the Elk Foundation, they were able to purchase three rifles plus a reloader to help them cope with a shortage of 5.56mm ammo.

UTAH
Deer and elk on the Sevier Plateau south of Richland are at the mercy of their winter range, as biologists say its quality and quantity is the chief limiter of herd growth. With this in mind, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) purchased the 800-acre Elbow Ranch in Piute County years back using Pittman-Robertson (sporting goods tax) funds. Yet they did so with the acknowledgement that the vital winter forage on this rangeland had become a miniature dustbowl due to overgrazing. DWR managers began watering a small portion of the land to provide forage for wintering mule deer and elk. But in an effort to develop more sustainable habitat, the Elk Foundation recently helped fund seeding of the area with drought-tolerant, palatable plants. The work should also benefit Rio Grande wild turkeys, and rehab work on wetlands on the property should lower water temperatures on Manning Creek to the delight of Bonneville cutthroat trout.

WISCONSIN
The bugle of an elk was once as common to Wisconsin’s Northwoods as the lonesome song of the loon. After a century hiatus, wapiti are again belting out autumn’s anthem in the Clam Lake area because of a hard-fought restoration effort spearheaded in part by the Elk Foundation. That effort continues still today. The foundation is working hand-in-hand with wildlife managers to assure the well-being of this landmark herd, most recently by helping purchase telemetry equipment to monitor herd growth and distribution. Such data has helped spur a highway warning system to quell a rash of elk-vehicle collisions, as well as habitat enhancements to increase forage on key wintering and calving areas, all using Elk Foundation funds. With good information and rock-solid partnerships, these efforts will assure elk never again fall silent in the Northwoods.