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Buffalo River Elk Festival Features Elk Management Summit Workshop

JASPER AR - -(AmmoLand.com)- Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper and Newton County residents are busy preparing for their annual Buffalo River Elk Festival. The festival is scheduled to begin Friday, June 26, and continue through Saturday, June 27. This year, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will hold an elk summit workshop during the celebration. The award winning festival began in 1998 to celebrate the successful reintroduction of elk to Newton County and has been an annual event every year since.

The highlight of the festival is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission drawing for elk hunting permits. The drawings and most of the activities will be at the courthouse square in Jasper with a kids’ fishing derby on the banks of the Little Buffalo River. This year the elk summit workshop will be held at the festival. It will be the culmination of the months-long effort to design a management plan for Arkansas’s elk herd. The elk summit workshop will be held at the Arkansas House in Jasper from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Thousands of hopeful elk hunters applied for the permits for this year’s hunt. The public land elk hunt dates are Zones 1, 2, 3, 4: Sept. 21-25 and Dec. 7-11, Private land elk hunts are Zones A, Sept. 21-25 and Dec. 7-11, Zone B and Zone 4, Dec. 7-11.

The drawing for the public land permits will be on Saturday, June 27 at the Newton County Courthouse Square in Jasper, near the Buffalo River and center of Arkansas’s elk country. Persons applying for permits don’t have to be present, but many attend each year, joining in the festivities and activities.

One of the more popular events returns to the festival again this year – the on-site drawing for a permit. One permit will be issued to someone who applies at the Elk Festival in Jasper. Sign up, stick around and you may win a permit. For this permit, the lucky hunter must be present. Just like the other public land elk permits to be drawn, entrants must be an Arkansas resident.

The elk hunting permits will be issued for specific zones along and near the Buffalo River.

About:
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will be present with several educational programs. For the hunting enthusiasts, drawings for elk permits will be held each hour starting at noon on Saturday.

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Elk Foundation Grants to Benefit 12 Colorado Counties

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

MISSOULA, Mont.— Twelve counties in Colorado are slated for wildlife habitat conservation and public education projects using $205,497 in new grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The 2009 RMEF grants will affect Boulder, Clear Creek, El Paso, Grand, Huerfano, La Plata, Mesa, Park, Rio Blanco, Routt, Saguache and San Miguel counties.

“Our volunteers across Colorado helped drive the 2008 fundraisers that made these grants possible. This is where Elk Foundation banquets, auctions and other events transform into on-the-ground conservation work, and it’s part of the payday for supporters who are passionate about giving something back to the outdoors,” said David Allen, Elk Foundation president and CEO.

Elk Foundation grants will help fund the following Colorado conservation projects, listed by county:

Boulder County—Rehabilitate aspen stands and other elk habitat damaged by motorized vehicle abuse, install signs and fences in an area of Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest; sponsor 4-H shooting sports program in Longmont, Colo.

Clear Creek County—Prescribe burn 710 acres to enhance forage for elk at James M. Jones and Mount Evans state wildlife areas (also affects Park County).

El Paso County—Sponsor hunter safety program for 500 youth and military personnel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Grand County—Remove six miles of unneeded fencing, one corral and 10 miles of decommissioned logging road to enhance elk migration routes in Routt National Forest.

Huerfano County—Minimize elk winter-range disturbance in a portion of San Isabel National Forest by installing six seasonal gates and signs to reduce motorized traffic.

La Plata County—Improve forage for elk and other wildlife by mowing and hand-thinning encroaching conifers on 128 acres in San Juan National Forest.

Mesa County—Mechanically thin and hand-clear 120 acres, then re-seed native grasses, to improve elk forage in Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests; participate and exhibit at 2nd Annual Colorado Outdoor Heritage Day for 900 youths in Palisade, Colo.

Rio Blanco County—Treat 300 acres of noxious weeds (primarily yellow toadflax) to improve forage quality for elk and other wildlife in Routt National Forest; treat 100 acres of weeds at White River National Forest.

Routt County—Prescribe burn and mechanically thin 1,090 acres to improve elk habitat in Routt National Forest.

Saguache County—Thin 450 acres of encroaching pinion and juniper in Rio Grande National Forest.

San Miguel County—Mechanically treat 1,000 acres to remove encroaching pinion and juniper from elk habitat on BLM land near Dolores, Colo.

Since 1984, the Elk Foundation and its partners have completed more than 470 conservation projects in Colorado with a value of more than $111.2 million.

Partners for 2009 projects in Colorado include Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Division of Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, other agencies, corporations, landowners and organizations.

About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Snowy peaks, dark timber basins and grassy meadows. RMEF is leading an elk country initiative that has conserved or enhanced habitat on over 5.5 million acres—a land area equivalent to a swath three miles wide and stretching along the entire Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. RMEF also works to open, secure and improve public access for hunting, fishing and other recreation. Get involved at www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK.

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