RMEF Seeks Chief Conservation Officer

August 17, 2026
5:12 am

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The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s decision to elevate a Chief Conservation Officer isn’t just another HR announcement—it’s a signal that the organization intends to fight for elk country with the same intensity that anti-hunting groups bring to the courtroom and the regulatory docket. By placing a senior leader in Missoula whose portfolio explicitly includes governmental affairs and federal-agency liaison work, RMEF is acknowledging that habitat policy is now shaped as much by litigation and administrative rulemaking as it is by boots-on-the-ground projects. For Second Amendment advocates, that matters: every acre of elk winter range that stays open to multiple-use management is also an acre where lawful hunting—and the firearms that make it possible—remains part of the cultural and economic fabric of the rural West. What makes the timing interesting is the convergence of two trends: an administration openly hostile to extractive industries and a wave of litigation aimed at shrinking motorized access on public lands. The new CCO will effectively serve as RMEF’s ambassador to agencies that are simultaneously rewriting travel-management plans, tightening NEPA reviews, and entertaining proposals to re-introduce wolves at scale. If the foundation can embed a credible voice inside those conversations, it can blunt policies that would otherwise convert de facto multiple-use landscapes into de facto wilderness—landscapes where hunting is theoretically allowed but practically impossible because roads, trailheads, and even firearm discharge are restricted. In that sense, the position is as much about preserving the infrastructure of hunting as it is about growing elk herds. For the broader pro-2A community, the takeaway is straightforward: conservation organizations are now front-line defenders of the places where we shoot, hunt, and pass on firearms traditions. Supporting RMEF’s habitat work isn’t charity; it’s an investment in keeping public land accessible to the very activities the Second Amendment was meant to protect. The person who ultimately fills the Missoula role will shape whether elk country remains a living classroom for new hunters or becomes another checkerboard of locked gates and “no shooting” signs.

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What makes the timing interesting is the convergence of two trends: an administration openly hostile to extractive industries and a wave of litigation aimed at shrinking motorized access on public lands. The new CCO will effectively serve as RMEF’s ambassador to agencies that are simultaneously rewriting travel-management plans, tightening NEPA reviews, and entertaining proposals to re-introduce wolves at scale. If the foundation can embed a credible voice inside those conversations, it can blunt policies that would otherwise convert de facto multiple-use landscapes into de facto wilderness—landscapes where hunting is theoretically allowed but practically impossible because roads, trailheads, and even firearm discharge are restricted. In that sense, the position is as much about preserving the infrastructure of hunting as it is about growing elk herds.

For the broader pro-2A community, the takeaway is straightforward: conservation organizations are now front-line defenders of the places where we shoot, hunt, and pass on firearms traditions. Supporting RMEF’s habitat work isn’t charity; it’s an investment in keeping public land accessible to the very activities the Second Amendment was meant to protect. The person who ultimately fills the Missoula role will shape whether elk country remains a living classroom for new hunters or becomes another checkerboard of locked gates and “no shooting” signs.

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