Conservation Update from Elk Country

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's communications director, Mark Holyoak. We asked Mark for an update on RMEF conservation projects and important news from around elk country.

Here’s a look at what’s happening at the Elk Foundation today.

Q: Mark, what are some of RMEF’s most important projects happening now?

Mark: One big piece of exciting news is that we are about to close on the Tenderfoot project, which is 120 acres along a tributary of Montana’s Smith River. It was a swath of checkerboard land, alternating public and private ownership. It was difficult to access or get around in there. But now, it’s all public land.
The Smith River is known for being incredibly scenic. People float, camp and fish along the smith. The Tenderfoot flows into there, and it’s incredible elk country. This is a project that took us a number of different phases over several years, so we’re excited to call it good and move forward.

Q: What other projects are happening on the ground?

Mark: We have two more upcoming projects. I won’t go into the specifics because we can’t officially announce them until they are done. But when these two projects finish up, they will total about 900 acres and improve or open access to about 12,000 acres for hunters, hikers and anyone that wants enjoy it. Opening up access to more public land is always a good thing.
We do have other projects that are either moving through the initial phases or somewhere in the process.

Q: RMEF recently announced a $50,000 grant for wolf research in Montana. Can you tell us how that will be used?

Mark: This is an effort by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to get a better grasp on how many wolves are really out there. Biologists use formulas; they rely on hunters, aerial surveys, and anything they can use to determine how many wolves are actually on the landscape. This grant provides more money for those biologists to collar wolves, track where they go and help figure out how many are actually out there.

Q: Why is it so important to get an accurate picture of wolf numbers?

Mark: It’s hard to manage a population when you don’t know how large it is or where it is. Montana’s biologists have ideas and minimums of how many wolves are on the landscape. But they freely admit that the numbers they quote as minimums are anywhere from 25% - 40% below what’s really out there and could be much higher than that. The goal is to get more collars on wolves to track them and see how many are out there. That will help wildlife managers better whittle those numbers down closer to where they need to be.
Soon we will be announcing a $50,000 grant for wolf research in Idaho as well. This grant is for very similar work to collar wolves in an effort to improve population estimates and locations. With more accurate wolf numbers, we are one step closer to keeping numbers closer to where they should be.