A still-in-progress Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation conservation project in Nevada received a funding boost from Walmart and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).
The two organizations announced a 10-year, $34.5 million renewal of the Acres for America conservation program, an effort that so far protected more than two million acres of wildlife habitat across all 50 states over its 20-year history. The new funding goes toward projects in California, Maine, Missouri, Nevada (below), North Carolina, Rhode Island and South Carolina,
Conserving Windermer Hills to Benefit Wildlife and Promote Public Access (NV)
- Grantee: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
- Grant Amount: $750,000
- Matching Funds: $2,901,500
- Total Project Amount: $3,651,500
- On a working ranch in Nevada, 21,449 acres of wildlife habitat will be placed under a voluntary conservation agreement to protect important sagebrush steppe, wet meadow, and native grassland habitat essential for mule deer, elk and pronghorn antelope. This easement will also ensure public access for activities including hunting, hiking, fishing and birding.
RMEF uses such agreements as a conservation tool to prevent development and conserve habitat that stays under private ownership.
NFWF is a private conservation foundation focused on protecting fish, wildlife, plants and habitats for future generations. RMEF and NFWF collaborated on many past projects including the Ataya-Cumberland National Forest Wildlife Management Area in Kentucky, an Arizona wildlife crossing, Pole Canyon in Nevada, Wyoming habitat work, Colorado’s Keystone Ranch, California’s Eel River and a Colorado wildlife overpass, to name a few of the more recent.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)