RMEF Endowment Makes $7.7 Million Difference for Elk Country (So Far)
MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Torstenson Family Endowment (TFE) and the wide-ranging impact it continues to leave on elk country from coast to coast.
“Since its establishment five years ago, the TFE has allowed us to accelerate timely impactful on-the-ground conservation work benefitting elk and elk country in a manner we could not do previously,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer.
With the blessing of the Torstenson family, RMEF sold the 93,000-acre Torstenson Wildlife Center, previously known as the Double-H Ranch, gifted to RMEF in 2002 by Bob Torstenson. The 2012 transaction established the $30 million TFE, believed to be one of the largest endowments ever gifted to a hunter-based, wildlife conservation organization.
RMEF uses earnings, interest and appreciation generated from the endowment to solely further its core mission programs.
Over the last five years, the now $38 million endowment provided a total of more than $7.7 million dollars across 37 states and one Canadian province, including:
- · nearly $4.1 million across 13 states that opened or improved public access to 268,000 acres of public land and permanently protected 45,000 acres
- · $1.8 million for hunting heritage programs reaching more than 353,000 youth and adults across 31 states and one Canadian province
- · $883,000 for various wildlife management and research projects
- · $789,000 for habitat enhancement work benefitting 72,200 acres across 19 states home to wild elk
- · $236,000 for elk restoration work in Virginia and Wisconsin
“The Torstenson Family Endowment stands as a perpetual tribute to the late Bob Torstenson. His love of elk, wild places and his desire to spread our traditional hunting lifestyle to the generations that follow will continue to be manifested for years to come,” added Henning.