Outdoors Unlimited Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

June/July 2019

OWAA Developer — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 18:41:51 +0000

Individual Members and Supporting Groups will receive issues of Outdoors Unlimited® via postal mail. But if you’d prefer to read online, here’s your chance. Click the magazine cover below to download a PDF.

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December 2019/January 2020

OWAA Developer — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 18:18:47 +0000

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February/March 2020

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October/November 2019

OWAA Developer — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 18:44:05 +0000

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August/September 2019

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April/May 2019

OWAA Developer — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:19:00 +0000

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February/March 2019

OWAA Developer — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:19:00 +0000

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Grant Funding Benefits Elk Habitat, Research, Public Access in South Dakota

OWAA Developer — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 23:07:07 +0000

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation provided nearly $114,000 in grant funding to improve elk habitat and scientific research in South Dakota as well as a wide range of hunting heritage and other outdoor-related activities.
“Water is at a premium across the lower portion of South Dakota. This funding is helping to establish a wide-ranging pipeline project to improve more than 15,400 acres of habitat,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “It also goes toward a multi-year research effort monitoring cow elk survival plus it assists various other projects designed to enhance habitat for elk and other wildlife.”
The 2018 grants helped pay for 25 projects across Aurora, Beadle, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Custer, Fall River, Jerauld, Lake, Lawrence, Meade, Pennington, Sanborn, Tripp and Yankton Counties.
South Dakota is home to more than 4,200 RMEF members and 18 chapters.
“We are so grateful for our volunteers and all the hard work they put in,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “Not only do they raise these funds that go back on the ground in South Dakota, but they took part in a number of different hands-on projects that improve water sources for elk and other wildlife. They truly are committed to our conservation mission.”
Since 1990, RMEF and its partners completed 324 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in South Dakota with a combined value of more than $37.2 million. These projects protected or enhanced 102,013 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 11,472 acres.
Here is a sampling of the 2018 projects, listed by county:
Custer County
• Provide funding to monitor cow elk survival and mortality in the Black Hills. The funds help replace 50 collars during the winter of 2018-19 which help managers monitor the animals during calving season and during other times of the year (also benefits Lawrence and Pennington Counties).
Fall River County
• Provide funding to expand the South Dakota Elk Hunting Access Program to an estimated 27,000 acres of privately-owned land in the southern Black Hills during the 2018 hunting season. The program enhances hunting opportunities and success rates while improving landowner tolerance for having elk on their property and assisting them with depredation concerns (also benefits Custer, Lawrence, Meade and Pennington, Counties).
Lawrence County
• Provide funding to construct nine miles of pipeline, ten stock tanks, three water storage tanks and two wildlife water guzzlers across approximately 15,000 acres of rangeland on the Black Hills National Forest. The goal is to improve forage through improved grazing distribution, including livestock, and provide reliable water sources for wildlife to encourage elk to use public lands.
Go here to view a full listing of the 2018 RMEF projects in South Dakota.
South Dakota 2018 project partners include the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Black Hills National Forest, private landowners and various sportsmen, civic and business organizations.
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About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded over 30 years ago, fueled by hunters and a membership of more than 227,000 strong, RMEF has conserved more than 7.3 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation” at www.rmef.org, elknetwork.com or 800-CALL ELK.

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More Wildlife Habitat Protected in Idaho

OWAA Developer — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 20:39:35 +0000

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation worked with a north Idaho landowner who appreciates the wildlife values of their land to permanently protect nearly 1,000 acres of prime habitat.
“We are grateful that the Barbieri family believes in the importance of conservation and has an appreciation of wildlife and our mission,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “Their land lies within an area that is both extremely popular for recreation and experiencing pressure to develop which highlights why this transaction is so vital.”
“The Barbieri family is proud to permanently protect this undeveloped land at beautiful Priest Lake,” said Tom Barbieri, president of Huckleberry Bay Company. “It is likely the most enduring and satisfying real estate transaction I’ve ever done, which is somewhat ironic being a developer.” added Barbieri, who is also president of real estate company Goodale & Barbieri in Spokane, Washington.
RMEF originally worked with the Barbieri family in 2007 to create a 587-acre conservation easement near Priest Lake in the Idaho panhandle. This latest transaction adds two more parcels of their property amounting to 357 acres which brings the overall total to 944 acres.
The property overlooks Priest Lake to the west and borders the Priest Lake State Forest to the east, which then adjoins the Kaniksu National Forest. Featuring a mixture of open grasslands, forestland and riparian habitat, the land provides valuable winter range for elk. Additionally, it offers important habitat for moose, deer, grizzly and black bears, and is an important travel corridor for those species as well as wolverine and lynx.
RMEF works with willing landowners to establish conservation easements to protect crucial elk winter and summer ranges, migration corridors, calving grounds and other areas vital to elk and other wildlife.
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About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded over 30 years ago, fueled by hunters and a membership of more than 227,000 strong, RMEF has conserved more than 7.3 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation” at www.rmef.org, elknetwork.com or 800-CALL ELK.

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Wildlife Habitat Management Wins in Court

OWAA Developer — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 16:23:50 +0000

MISSOULA, Mont. — A U.S. District Court judge ruled a habitat management project in west-central Montana designed to benefit wildlife will go forward as planned.
The Johnny Crow Project will utilize prescribed burning and the removal of invasive junipers into grasslands in the Elkhorn Mountains as part of an effort to rejuvenate forage for elk and other wildlife.
The judge denied claims by two environmental groups and ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and partners.
“This is a big win-win,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “It is a victory for wildlife and it is a victory for the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. Like so many other areas in elk country, it is in need of active treatments to create early seral conditions of grasslands, sage brush and forbs that are vital for bird and animal life.”
In March 2017, the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest issued what’s called a “categorical exclusion” which exempts the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) from completing an environmental assessment for certain actions determined to not significantly impact the environment. In January 2018, RMEF filed a brief in support of the USFS decision.
“We have seen time and time again that active management with a focus on wildlife habitat in the form of prescribed burns, thinning and other treatments triggers the growth of new grasses and forbs that benefits elk and a wide array of wildlife species,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer.
The Elkhorn Mountains lie within a unique wildlife management situation. Managed jointly by the USFS, Bureau of Land Management and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, they are within the only unit in the entire Forest Service system that is designated by Congress with a focus on wildlife and wildlife habitat.
The Elkhorns are also recognized as a location featuring some of the best elk hunting in Montana.
In a somewhat similar case, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied claims by several environmental groups approximately six months ago and ruled in favor of active forest management in southwestern Montana.
“We have seen time and time again that interference by environmental groups only thwarts efforts by wildlife habitat and forest managers to try to improve the condition of our forests. Such litigation only harms forests and wildlife as litigants seek payouts in the form of taxpayer dollars to pad their bottom line,” added Weaver.
RMEF is a long-time advocate for active habitat and forest management as a benefit for wildlife and wild landscapes.
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About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded over 30 years ago, fueled by hunters and a membership of more than 227,000 strong, RMEF has conserved more than 7.3 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation” at www.rmef.org, elknetwork.com or 800-CALL ELK.

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