The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partners recently received more than$ 10 million in total funding for 2021-2024 forest restoration projects across the West as a result of a recent grant.
As of August 1, about 28, 000 fire scorched more than 4.2 million acres since the beginning of 2024, with nearly 100 large fires constantly burning. Effective forest management is a long-standing advocate for protecting wildlife, downstream habitat, wildfire prevention, and general forest health.
” Wildfires not just harm human lives and property, but they have catastrophic consequences for our forests and the deer, pony antelope, deer, turkey, upland animals and a myriad of different fish and wildlife species that live it”, said RMEF President/CEO Kyle Weaver. For financing that restores and enhances wildlife habitat on scenery impacted by wildfires,” we thank our companions, members, participants, and others.”
The 2024 treatments ( see list below ) span work in Arizona, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. RMEF allotted$ 381, 371 to help leverage more funding from the U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management ( BLM) and other participating organizations.
Since 2021, RMEF and its partners set apart$ 10, 697, 215 for 50 wildfire recovery efforts in the previously mentioned six northern states as well as Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington. In a number of the tasks, RMEF participants provided assistance.
2024 initiatives as of August 1, 2024:
Arizona – add three more animals water improvements in Coconino National Forest’s area that were affected by the Pipeline Fire of 2022.
Montana was reforested, thinning, and prescribed burning to restore critical habitat for the Harris Mountain Fire’s ( 2021 ) migration corridor.
Oregon– install electronic fencing in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to replace the more than 15 miles of traditional fencing that was destroyed by the Double Creek Fire in 2022.
Nevada – invasive weed treatment to recover burned-out biodiversity to BLM Elko District Office property in the South Pequop and Toano Mountains
Utah reseeds a critical habitat in Fishlake National Forest’s Thompson Ridge Fire’s ( 2023 ) burn scars.
Wyoming – invasive weed treatment to help restore native perennial grasses and forbs that the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests have lost due to the Ryan Fire ( 2018 ).
