Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
“To ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat, and our hunting heritage.”
2 comments to the agencies, 74 cents of every dollar to the work.
The work
What they do
Ensures the future of elk and other wildlife, their habitat, and the hunting heritage.
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Land Protection and Access
$30.9M, 34% of spendingRepresents land acquisitions, conservation easements, land exchanges and donations, and hunter and public access related projects.
Including $2,931,207 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
LAND PROTECTION AND ACCESS: REPRESENTS LAND ACQUISITIONS, CONSERVATION EASEMENTS, LAND EXCHANGES AND DONATIONS, AND HUNTER AND PUBLIC ACCESS RELATED PROJECTS. RMEF IDENTIFIES AND PRIORITIZES THE MOST CRUCIAL ELK WINTER AND SUMMER RANGES, MIGRATION CORRIDORS, AND CALVING AREAS USING GIS MAPPING, INTERNAL CRITERIA AND PRIORITIES, PARTNERSHIPS, AND FIELD-BASED PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE. THE HIGHEST PRIORITY HABITAT OR ACCESS AREAS ARE PROTECTED THROUGH ACQUISITION OR EASEMENT. ACQUISITIONS ARE THEN USUALLY CONVEYED INTO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. CONSERVATION EASEMENTS ALLOW PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO PROTECT THEIR LAND IN PERPETUITY FROM DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER USES THAT COULD DIMINISH THE HABITAT VALUE.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Habitat Stewardship
$19.9M, 22% of spendingRepresents projects to improve the essential forage, water, and cover components of wildlife habitat.
Including $3,787,137 granted onward, the largest share ($1,693,707) to Utah Department of Natural Resources.
Read it as they filed it
HABITAT STEWARDSHIP: REPRESENTS PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE ESSENTIAL FORAGE, WATER, AND COVER COMPONENTS OF WILDLIFE HABITAT. TYPES OF PROJECTS INCLUDE RESTORING ASPEN COMMUNITIES, FIGHTING THE SPREAD OF NOXIOUS WEEDS, BOOSTING LAND PRODUCTIVITY WITH PRESCRIBED BURNING, AND THINNING OF FORESTS. RMEF FUNDS WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AS WELL AS FENCING PROJECTS TO PROVIDE BETTER DISTRIBUTION OF WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Hunting Heritage
$13.0M, 14% of spendingRepresents grants and other costs to engage people in hunting and other outdoor pursuits through skills instruction, mentoring, conservation outreach and hunting related product.
Including $1,324,320 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
HUNTING HERITAGE: REPRESENTS GRANTS AND OTHER COSTS TO ENGAGE PEOPLE IN HUNTING AND OTHER OUTDOOR PURSUITS THROUGH SKILLS INSTRUCTION, MENTORING, CONSERVATION OUTREACH AND HUNTING RELATED PRODUCT.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Wildlife Management
$3.3M, 4% of spendingRepresents engagement through advocacy, collaboration, research and managament with a focus on key management challenges such as wildlife disease, population dynamics, migration corridors, elk ecology and predator…
Including $1,176,805 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: REPRESENTS ENGAGEMENT THROUGH ADVOCACY, COLLABORATION, RESEARCH AND MANAGAMENT WITH A FOCUS ON KEY MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES SUCH AS WILDLIFE DISEASE, POPULATION DYNAMICS, MIGRATION CORRIDORS, ELK ECOLOGY AND PREDATOR MANAGEMENT.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
74 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$67,074,810 programs, $4,613,697 management, $18,395,681 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by Bass Pro Shops & Cabelas Outdoor Fund, Shell Usa Company Foundation, Us Charitable Gift Trust and 6 others, latest filing FY24.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at RMEF? Claim this page.
Those 8,400 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If RMEF is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe filings
13 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $56,372,640 |
| 2012 | $79,251,317 |
| 2013 | $49,560,969 |
| 2014 | $48,275,297 |
| 2015 | $64,448,982 |
| 2016 | $43,495,661 |
| 2017 | $53,266,842 |
| 2018 | $66,561,688 |
| 2019 | $59,005,461 |
| 2020 | $68,412,497 |
| 2021 | $61,910,976 |
| 2022 | $66,007,163 |
| 2024 | $100,089,143 |
From $56.4M in 2011 to $100.1M in FY24, across 13 public filings (none on record for 2023).
The returns as e-filed with the IRS, one year:
- FY2024Download the return
Source: IRS Form 990 e-file data, each return by its IRS object id, served by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. A year in the chart without a link here is read from a later return’s own history table; its return is on ProPublica’s page for the group.
On the Hill
RMEF has hired federal lobbyists: 41 filings from 2020 to 2026, naming 44 bills. The filings at the Senate.
Most filed on wildlife, real estate and natural resources.
The record
On the record with the agencies
2 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov, none yet on a decision we track. Read them on regulations.gov.
Year by year
In order
- 1984Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is formed.the return, formation year
- 2021First appears in Bass Pro Shops & Cabelas Outdoor Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2022First appears in Shell Usa Company Foundation’s grants.the funder’s return
- 20231 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in Us Charitable Gift Trust’s grants.the funder’s return
- 20241 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Colorado Gives Foundation, Community Foundation Of Jackson Hole, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Jpmorgan Chase Foundation and Knobloch Family Foundation.the funders’ returns
Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row comes from a public record: 2 comments filed under its own name, 9 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
RMEF is not on our editors’ record for a threatened place yet. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation files 2 related organizations on its return: Rocky Mountain Elk Fnd Group Return (501(c)(3)) and Hunt to Conserve INC (501(c)(4)). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Across the 11 states where they work, the congressional delegations average 63 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Help complete this profile. If you work here, claim it and send us your current campaigns and the best way for supporters to get involved. An editor checks what you send before it goes up.
The wire
What they’ve done lately
- Tue, Oct 20 · StatementDrones and Dragon Eggs Improve Vital Elk, Mule Deer Habitat in Wyoming
- Tue, Oct 13 · StatementPrescribed Fire Rejuvenates Michigan Elk Range
- Fri, Oct 9 · StatementTracking Tule Elk to Prevent Highway Collisions
- Fri, Oct 2 · StatementAccess Elk Country: Kate Creek, MT
- Wed, Sep 30 · StatementMules Help RMEF and Colorado Battle Weeds in the Backcountry
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗FollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.