Talking Elk Over Coffee and Breakfast
(Photo credit: RMEF) Lasting Legacies by Vivien Felker Current and prospective members of the Trails Society gathered at a sold-out breakfast to discuss giving back to RMEF. On a breezy Saturday morning during RMEF’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Missoula, Montana, current and prospective members of RMEF’s Trails Society met for an exclusive breakfast to share […]
40th Anniversary Featured Stories
RMEF recently held it’s 40th Anniversary celebration May 3-4, 2024 in Missoula, Montana. Members, volunteers, donors, conservation partners, corporate partners, staff and others gathered to honor the organization’s founding and celebrate its 40 years of conservation successes!
Below is a collection of stories that highlight the celebration and honor RMEF’s mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage.
40th Anniversary Throwback – a Walk Down Memory Lane
Forty years is a long time. If you’re reading this and you’ve lived that long (or longer), you know what we mean. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation officially opened its doors as a hunter-based, wildlife conservation organization on May 14, 1984. Over that time, it increased its influence as a mover and shaker of good […]
40th Anniversary Throwback: RMEF Receives United Nations Award
Below is a reprint from the September 1991 Wapiti newsletter. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently honored the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for its work in protecting and improving more than 600,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the United States and Canada. The Foundation has expended more than $12 million on behalf of wildlife […]
40th Anniversary Throwback: First RMEF Life Member Puts Faith in Fledgling Elk Foundation
Below is a reprint from an early issue of the Wapiti newsletter. Clint Mills joined the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation on March 1, 1985. As RMEF’s first life member, he also donated to the mission over the years. Mills passed away on December 11, 2012. His ashes were spread on, appropriately enough, Bugle Mountain in […]
Partners Play Huge Role in 40 Years of RMEF Conservation
MISSOULA, Mont. — Celebrating four decades of conservation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation formally recognized six partner organizations at its recent 40th anniversary celebration that helped further its mission over that time – U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Bass Pro Shops-Cabela’s, Browning, Leupold and Weatherby. “The Forest Service and […]
RMEF Celebrates Four Decades of Conservation
MISSOULA, Mont. — Founded on May 14, 1984, riding 40 years of conservation momentum and knocking on the door of nine million acres of conserved or enhanced wildlife habitat, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation paused to honors its volunteers, supporters and celebrate its lifetime mission accomplishments. “I can’t believe where we are today but you […]
Hundreds Help RMEF Celebrate 40 Years
By Tom Kuglin, Bugle Hunting & Outdoor Lifestyle Editor It was a memorable weekend for conservation in Missoula, Montana, as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and hundreds of supporters celebrated 40 years of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage. From its humble beginnings in tiny Troy, Montana, in […]
Partner Recognition: Weatherby
(Left to right: RMEF President & CEO Kyle Weaver, Weatherby CEO Adam Weatherby & RMEF Chief Revenue Officer Steve Decker) The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recognized four long-time sponsors at its 40th Anniversary Celebration. Founded in 1945 by Roy Weatherby in California, he documented rapid-pace innovations to create a line of ammunition. That followed with the creation […]
Partner Recognition: U.S. Forest Service
(Left to right: RMEF President & CEO Kyle Weaver, U.S. Forest Service Associate Chief Angela Coleman & RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning) The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recognized two long-time conservation partners at its 40th Anniversary Celebration. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) came into existence in 1905 when President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman […]
Partner Recognition: Idaho Department of Fish & Game
(Left to right: RMEF President & CEO Kyle Weaver, Idaho Fish & Game State Wildlife Manager Rick Ward & RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning) The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recognized two long-time conservation partners at its 40th Anniversary Celebration. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) was established by Idaho’s fifth state legislature […]
Partner Recognition: Browning
(Pictured: Browning CEO Travis Hall) The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recognized four long-time sponsors at its 40th Anniversary Celebration. Founded as a company in 1878 by John Browning, he received a patent for a single-shot rifle. That effort expanded to a bolt-action rifle with a tubular magazine and eventually a full line of well-known rifles, […]
Partner Recognition: Leupold
(Left to right: RMEF President & CEO Kyle Weaver, Leupold President & CEO Bruce Pettet & RMEF Chief Revenue Officer Steve Decker) The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recognized four long-time sponsors at its 40th Anniversary Celebration. Leupold began as a family business in 1907 by creating water level and flow recorders, stream gauging and surveying […]
RMEF Founders
Bob Munson (left), Charlie Decker (right), Dan Bull (back left) and Bill Munson (back right)
I think the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will put a footprint on this nation. And that's something extraordinary.
There was never a thought in my mind or any of our minds that this couldn't work. Why? We believed strongly that there was a need and we believed God would provide for us one way or another.