The following is a letter from Allen Kerby, Regional Director New Mexico/ West Texas of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization with a mission to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat. We work with federal and state agencies to help maintain, preserve, and conserve the land that wildlife inhabit. Although our main focus is on elk habitat we affect a wide variety of wildlife that live off the land. We understand that wildlife don’t have boundaries and roam wherever they need to. That is why we also work with private landowners in their quest to conserve and maintain wildlife habitat on their properties.

A great example of a relationship with the private landowners is with Eliu & Miguel Romero who own the Sierra Morena ranch outside of Taos, NM.

Over the past few years the RMEF has teamed up with both Mr. Romero and Miguel to do sagebrush reduction on his ranch. The purpose of this reduction is to stimulate the native grasses to come back to the area and help the habitat return to its original condition. This project has evolved to a multi year endeavor for both Mr. Romero and the Elk Foundation. We have assisted not only with funding but also with a general plan of how best to reduce the sagebrush and make the biggest impact possible on the land. The process has been a long one in regards to seeing the end goal, but when help from mother nature and the drought ending to some extent we are pleased at what we see so far in the return of native grasses to the ranch. Mr. Romero also helped the RMEF, NMGFD, and New Mexico State conduct a 3-year elk survey of the San Antonio Mountain area. We were able to collar large numbers of elk in the area and track them over this period. The information gathered was invaluable to all who participated and has given us a good look at migration around the area along with wintering patterns that are currently being used. A portion of the local elk herd reside on the ranch with many more using the ranch during the winter time.

The relationship between Mr. Romero and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has given us hope to continue the fight to help the elk heard survive in that area. Mr. Romero has a great incite into what it takes to promote a healthy environment so that elk and other wildlife may continue to be a part of that region.

Many RMEF members are hunters and we realize that without our help elk and other wildlife may not survive the future. It is a very important aspect to what we do that we also monitor the population of elk around the state. Besides all of the agencies work to provide habitat we must also use hunting as a tool to help control the wild populations around the state and the west. The best tool to control these growing elk populations is to provide the opportunity to hunt elk on both public and private land. Mother nature still controls a lot of what happens to wildlife and we must be able to react in certain situations to manage the herds and this can be done by regulations set for hunting in areas where elk live. Hunting has been around a long time and in some areas is a tradition passed along from one generation to the next. The RMEF is in the middle of a 5-year campaign called the “PASS IT ON “ campaign where we want to conserve 2 million acres and raise $250 million for elk and other wildlife. For more info on the RMEF please contact www.rmef.org or call 1-800-CALL-ELK.

Allen Kerby
Regional Director New Mexico/ West Texas
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation