RMEF Banquet set for April 10

The local chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is holding its banquet April 10 at 5 p.m. at the Fair Building.

The event is a fundraiser and committee chair, Anthony Barnett, said they want to get members back together now that COVID has died down.

Barnett added, “We had to cancel our event last year. As far as a local community, we wanted to have an event for the community. With proceeds from this local event and the Women for Wildlife events our chapter does in Greybull, Worland and Dubois throughout the year our chapter hopes to have a good fundraising year for the cause. Overall, the money is pooled together and spent on a variety of projects based upon the applications they receive.” 

In Wyoming, the RMEF and its partners completed 858 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects with a combined value of more than $168.8 million. These projects protected or enhanced more than 1.2 million acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 200,595 acres. 

The RMEF is headquartered in Missoula, Montana, and the local foundation partners with others in habitat projects.

One of those projects is to reintroduce elk herds into new locations.

Barnett said, “In the last few years there has been the Grand Canyon of the Black Hills project which was completed recently. They teamed with the state and other conservation groups to open up access to hunters and the public.”

Barnett described some of their work and said they have done fence removal projects with on mountain permits, aspen rehabilitations, water projects, working with ranchers developing springs.

They also have partnered with BLM with certain projects and have been looking for volunteers to collaborate in them. Also, the RMEF partners with the 4-H Shooting Sports Program. 

Barnett said they are looking forward to the community getting together again at the banquet.