Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 21, 1994 TAG: 9402210324
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As the inventor of Trebark camouflage, Crumley had helped with numerous such banquets in the Roanoke Valley - for ducks and turkeys - but never for elk.
``I told him on the phone, `Mike, I will help, but I can not in my wildest dream think there are enough people in the Roanoke area who hunt elk to come to this thing.'''
A few months later, the fledging Blue Ridge Chapter of the foundation had a turn-away crowd of 300 people at its first banquet. It netted $18,000, a record for the first-time effort of any elk foundation chapter in North America. Last year the figure jumped to $26,000, the best gross-to-net ratio on record.
With its third annual banquet set for the Tanglewood Holiday Inn on Saturday, the chapter has become the envy of other wildlife fund-rasing groups.
Part of the success has to do with something Vince Yannone describes as the ``mystique'' of an elk, an animal of enormous size and beauty roaming the big-sky country of the West.
An assistant administrator with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Yannone will be the guest speaker at the Blue Ridge banquet. He is a colorful man who grew up in downtown Philadelphia and gave up a career in dentistry to live in elk country.
For Ron White, the success of the Blue Ridge chapter has to do with mystique, all right, but also hard work on the part of the banquet committee.
``Those guys are great,'' said White, the foundation's field representative. ``I would like to clone them and send them around the country.''
``The other thing here, this is a chance to preserve something in the West that we lost in the East,'' said Roberts, the chapter founder who lives in Huddleston.
``We had an eastern subspecies of elk. At that point in history, there was no concern for the environment. We had woodland bison. These were the same things that are in the West. But we encroached on the environment and we lost them.
''That could happen in the West, too. By enhancing and protecting the environment out there, we, as Easterners, can be as much involved in keeping Western wildlife intact as those who live there.''
As far as conservation organizations go, the elk foundation is a baby, just 10 years old, but it is outpacing organizations that have been around for more than 50 years. Last year it raised $4.6 million, most of it the fruit of 300 banquets.
``Our goal this year is $5.2 million net,'' said White.
Money the foundation raises has been pumped into 700 conservation projects in 22 states. An example is the purchase of 9,000 acres of winter habitat for the elk that migrate out of Yellowstone National Park into northern Montana.
``We don't own land,'' said White. ``We are interim financiers.''
Property purchased by the foundation is donated to state and federal agencies for wildlife management.
``Elk are a big thing,'' said Yannone. ``They are very obvious. They are probably the trophy of trophies. They are so beautiful. But when you preserve elk habitat, you also are preserving the trout streams that run through it. When you help elk, you very definitely are going to help the northern goshawk. You are going to help the flying squirrels and a multitude of song birds.''
The elk foundation doesn't just look to the West, White said. The foundation is well into a study with the University of Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the feasibility of reintroducing elk into the Smoky Mountains.
``Just from the educational standpoint, people in the East being able to see elk in the wilds would be fantastic,'' said White.
A few Roanoke banquet tickets are left. They sell for $45, $65 for a couple, and may be purchased by calling 772-1414.
by CNB