The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation rings in 2017 with an all-time record of 222,235 members. 

“We are extremely grateful for all our members, volunteers, partners, and other sportsmen and women who support our conservation mission,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “This continual growth is a strong indicator of the values and importance we all share in maintaining and improving elk and elk country, hunting and public access opportunity, and advocating for issues vital to our hunting heritage.” 

The new figure marks the eighth consecutive year of record growth. It also marks a 32 percent increase in membership since 2008. 

2016 included several RMEF lifetime milestones such as surpassing 10,000 conservation projects, topping one million acres of new or improved public access and surpassing a combined seven million acres of wildlife habitat protected or enhanced. 

RMEF also provided volunteer manpower and financial support in helping to return elk to their native range in West Virginia for the first time in more than a century. 

“We especially appreciate the vital contributions of our dedicated volunteer army that numbers 11,000 across more than 500 RMEF chapters nationwide. They selflessly work countless hours to benefit elk and elk country,” added Allen. 

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also expanded its outreach and educational efforts with its #HuntingIsConservation social media campaign which reached more than 24.4 million people in 2016 and will continue into 2017. 

RMEF recently topped 485,000 likes on Facebook while the RMEF blog Elk Tracks has approximately 1.45 million page views. Its YouTube channel has more than 1.2 million views plus an additionally 82,000 followers on Instagram. RMEF is also growing on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Coming in early 2017, RMEF plans to launch a new online venture that will serve as a complete source for all things elk, elk country, hunting and conservation.