The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission recently gave a tip of the cap to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for its collaborative conservation work in the Volunteer State. RMEF secured a $200,000 gift from the Mildred Edwards Trust and will kick in $100,000 of its own to help expand the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
The 1,322-acre Laurel Fork parcel adjoins existing WMA land and already has elk using it. The upcoming Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) acquisition will expand public land supplying more hunting opportunity for deer, turkey, ruffed grouse and other species. It also protects critical riparian habitat in the Laurel Fork drainage. This unit of the WMA is not currently open to elk hunting but TWRA staff expressed an interest in changing that in the future.
RMEF will also look to help with future habitat stewardship opportunities on the property to improve forage for game and nongame alike.
RMEF has a long history in the region. In 2000, RMEF helped restore wild, free-ranging elk to Tennessee. Two years later, it worked with partners to purchase and convey 74,000 acres, that make up the bulk of the WMA, to the TWRA. In 2021, it again helped to expand the WMA by 850 acres.
(Photo credit: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency)