RMEF - 13,000 acres of new public access

[Big Fin]

If you like public access and like elk hunting in the amazing grounds of Oregon's John Day River country, things just got a little brighter. RMEF has completed their acquisition of 13,000 acres of some of the best elk habitat in the area. A great New Year's gift to the hunters and anglers of Oregon.

And yes, it is all open to public hunting ....... along with consolidating a lot of public land that was previously inaccessible due to the checkerboard pattern of ownership.

RMEF is serious about public access for hunters. You can trust me on that.

Thanks to all the great volunteers, members, donors, and the great land staff of RMEF who made this happen. And a really big thanks to the Johnson family who demonstrated an amazing conservation ethic by selling this to RMEF.

A map of the area. It is some of the best elk, deer, and bear hunting in Oregon. And the fish values of this area are huge bonus to those of us who grab a rod when we do not carry a rifle.




Link here ------> http://rmefblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/rmef-opens-13000-acres-of-oregon-elk.html

 

[idnative1948]

Fantastic news!

 

[jryoung]

Great to see the RMEF keeping their core message strong. This and the Red Hill property seem like very strategic acquisitions.

 

[shoots-straight]

Great news!

 

[ashersdad]

This is fabulous news!! Thank you RMEF and thanks to the Johnson family for doing that. Very exciting news!

 

[MNHunter]

Very Nice!

 

[Jwill]

RMEF is really hitting them out of the park lately!

 

[stillkickin]

Things like this make me proud to be a Life Member!

 

[6speed]

Proud to be a member/volunteer! Keep up the good work RMEF.

 

[WapitiBob]

I have boot prints all over those sections. Congrats to RMEF and thanks to the Johnsons.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Talk about the best way to get rid of the corner crossing issue!

 

[Paul in Idaho]

Great news to end the year with. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BBwheelgunner]

that is very cool. thanks for sharing Randy

 

[MtnWest]

Good stuff! Killed a few bulls near there with my bow inc the 6pt in my pic.

Great hunting country and thanks to all involved. I highly recommend the DQ in John Day.

 

[Mudranger1]

That is pretty awesome

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Ditto what everybody else said and I'm also a proud member of RMEF!!!

 

[bmack]

Some absolutely beautiful country. Love hearing this kind of news!

 

[jryoung]

Really interesting social experiment here. So the RMEF posted a link on Facebook to a very positive opinion from Daily Kos of the acquisition....but something totally unexpected occurred (at least to me) in that most are posting that they are against this.

So, is it because the opinion comes from Daily Kos, or are other pig piling on some of the first comments. I've never seen a reaction like this when it comes to the Land Acquisitions. I guess what's funnier, is that this is the RMEFs MO, do people not understand how they do what they do?

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation shared a link.
3 hours ago
A first-hand take on RMEF's recent project opening public access to 13K acres of prime Oregon elk country.

Daily Kos: I just bought 13,000 acres and I'm giving it to the Forest Service
www.dailykos.com
Well, to be more precise my dues helped pay for the purchase, but what a choice piece of land. Abutting a wilderness area, the headwaters of a river, home to four federally listed birds and four ...
19Like · · Share
188 people like this.

Carl Tracy Then all that property is taken off the local tax rolls causing hardships for local schools and hospitals, then the feds will let it all burn to the ground in a few short years, and then close all the roads making it harder for our seniors and wounded warriors to enjoy the woods.
3 hours ago · Like · 6

Brant Hubbard Well done embed
3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1

Chris Brooks habitat equals more hunting opportunities.
3 hours ago · Like · 1

Patrick Lujan Actually Carl, your liberal opinion is all wrong. There will be more hunting and fishing opportunity with added habitat, more people will come to the area and spend thousands of dollars. Schools always get their money, they just waste it like the rest of the lefties and demand more and more for less and less productivity. Hospitals?? Man. I've never been to hospital and rec'd any kind of treatment for free, on the tax payers. If it would have been private property to begin with, what difference would it make if they closed the roads and seniors & disabled vets had no access anyway? You must be a teacher. Somebody bought property that was for sale and donated it to the people. Frankly, I think most people are getting sick of your type of view. This is a good thing.
3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3

TJ Ewing Why on earth would anyone turn anything over to the USFS or any other govt agency that can, has, & will dictate it's use, & usability to & for anyone?

Rediculous!

Looks like a short term gain to me.
2 hours ago via mobile · Edited · Like · 2

Duane Calhoon I agree that it does open up more hunting but what I have witnessed in colo is that the forest service (gov) will close roads and make it inaccessible, and also down the road they can trade it away if they want, HE REALLY NEEDS TO DONATE IT TO THE RMEF, I get sick every time I go out and see all the road closure signs going up, the goverment (forest service/BLM) just does what they want whenever they want, instead of listening to the people that pay their wages (HUNTERS AND FISHERMAN)
2 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3

Duane Calhoon Sounds like a waste of good prime land to me where the RMEF could use it to benefit the wildlife that lives on the land
2 hours ago via mobile · Like

Heather Mason What? Rmef bought it with dues & gave it to the usfs? The notion of giving the government anything is a terrible idea. Just wait till the government "shuts down" the land or sells it off to the Chinese in an effort to reduce our debt to them.

Get the land green belted and set as a habitat of some sort, and let logging companies periodically selective harvest various varieties. Can even turn the land into prosperity or additional revenue to purchase additional lands... Turning what was 13,000 into 1,300,000 acres. Save more, by being smarter about "managing" vs "growing more" apartment/strip mall/traffic light free zones.
How about getting emanate domain reversed, no roads or highways... No knuckle heads at city hall deciding what you can or can't do with your land
2 hours ago via mobile · Like

J.R. Young This is comical, do you guys know what the core mission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is? Do you know why/how it has conserved 6.3M acres of land? They've done it by this key strategy, and it works....for everyone.

That's RMEF for one again acquiring key habitat and expanding public land.
2 hours ago · Like · 3

Garrett Janes I wish more people were like that instead of selling it for houses
2 hours ago via mobile · Like

Carl Tracy Patrick, by no means am I a teacher or a Liberal. I consider myself a hard core gun toting conservative who loves to hunt fish and spend time in the forest or high desert.. What I am against and I have seen it happen is the USFS will take the livestock off and close all access to logging and of general use of the land. Then in 10 to 15 years it will burn to the ground or that the native grasses will eventually die off and the domestic and wild animals will move off the land. Gearheart Wilderness in Lake County Ore. is a perfect example of this. People like you need to look down the road 20 to 30 years instead of only seeing what they want you to see today!
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Marshall Huston All you people complaining about closed roads should try getting out and walking.
about an hour ago via mobile · Unlike · 5

Carl Tracy I totally agree with you Marshall, but what about people that can't walk. Their Tag an license fee's are as good as yours. Nothing burns me more than a bunch of road hunters. Two years ago I was the road hunter due to a cast on my leg and my knee in a brace. I didn't bag an elk but I was able to still enjoy the hunt with my family an friends along with donating my tag and license fee's. Not all hunters are created equal, put yourself in the "disabled or wounded" shoes.
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Trevor Stone I used to hunt this land when I worked for one of the previous owners and it is a great piece of property for wildlife and timber production, but I have a real problem with turning over more private acres to be "managed" by the USFS. The surrounding country is largely a burned over sea of dead snags due to USFS mis-management. I've been a long time supporter of the RMEF, but won't be renewing my membership. I simply don't believe that public landownership is better for conservation than private.
about an hour ago via mobile · Like · 1

Butch Andrews that state sucks hunts are hard to get
55 minutes ago · Like

Mitch Tolson That's awesome wish I could hunt it
9 minutes ago via mobile · Like

Gerald R. Swasey Not the forest service. Now that is obama land.not a smart move by RMEF..too bad.
8 minutes ago · Like

Brad Osburn I don't believe the USFS is capable any more of successfully managing anything. The Beatle kill forests and fires around Mt Adams are proof of that.
Then there's the line of big government being the best caretaker for everyone, surely that's a joke?
2 minutes ago via mobile · Like

 

[Elkmagnet]

That does bring up a couple of thoughts.
Did the previous owner allowed timber harvest?
What rancher gets the grazing rights to our new federal land?

I think this is more about people being upset with USFS then it is about the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I myself see a lot of federal land around me being mismanaged/under managed for one reason or another.

 

[Big Fin]

I suspect if someone asked those folks to show what they have done for wildlife, conservation, access, or hunting, you could empty it all into a thimble, with room to spare. Such ideas and opinions never cease to amaze me. Rather than do something positive, they would rather sit on their keyboards and criticize those trying to do work that can benefit all of us.

No good deed goes unpunished.