Education

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. -Theodore Roosevelt

William I. Spencer Conservation Grants

INVESTING IN EXCELLENCE

SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW KNOWLEDGE IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S MISSION.

The Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Grants Program, supported by endowments honoring conservation leaders William I. Spencer and Tim Hixon, contributes to this goal by assisting researchers or graduate students who have chosen to pursue careers in the wildlife profession. New knowledge, applied in creative ways by competent and committed professionals, is essential to the future of wildlife conservation and management.

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Wolves holding a moose at bay. The pack harassed the animal for 5 minutes, then left. From The Wolves of Isle Royale by L. David Mech, Ph.d.

Since 1948, the Boone and Crockett Club has been investing in research and career development through its Conservation Grants Program. The early careers of some of the wildlife profession’s brightest and best were assisted by B&C conservation grants. Examples include David Mech’s early wolf and moose studies on Isle Royale, Lynn Rogers’ landmark work on black bears in Minnesota, and Maurice Hornocker’s pioneering research on mountain lions in Idaho. Today, as then, conservation grants serve the dual purpose of developing new scientific information and seeding the early careers of aspiring wildlife professionals. It does this through modest grants (usually $15,000 or less) toward selected research projects. Typically, the grants are leveraged by additional resources that the graduate students and researchers develop to support the overall program of study.

The Conservation Grants Program (formerly called Grants-in-Aid) was the Club’s sole research instrument until the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch was established in 1986 and the Boone and Crockett Club’s Professorships were established about five years later. The Conservation Grants Program complements these other programs, but remains unique in its wide solicitation of proposals from graduate students across the U.S. and Canada.

The Boone and Crockett Club’s Strategic Plan recognizes a 3-part goal for the program:

  • Support the Club’s mission to promote the guardianship and provident management of big game and associated wildlife in North America by funding research that will be of benefit to managers and policy-makers.
  • Complement the Club’s other research programs (Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, Boone and Crockett Professorships) by supporting the work of others at diverse locations across North America.
  • Assist and encourage promising graduate students who have chosen careers in the wildlife profession

The Boone and Crockett Club was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887 for the primary purposes of halting the decline of North American big game populations and conserving their habitats. Accordingly, proposed investigations must generally be concerned with native North American big game and/or their habitat relationships. In most recent years, the Club selects a high-priority research theme and invites proposals from universities in the U.S. and Canada that have graduate programs in wildlife science or management.

 



 

Since 1997, the Club has helped fund over 40 projects totally over $500,000.

 Year School/Affiliation Research Topic Grant Recipient
 1997 Cornell University Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of cougars (Felis concolor) in Montana: a regional landscape approach to conservatio Shawn J. Riley
1997 Craighead Wildlife and Wildlands Institute Conservation Genetics of Bighorn sheep John T. Hogg
1997 University of California - Berkeley Urban Deer, Kensington and El Cerrito, California Dale R. McCullough
1997 University of Wisconsin Grizzly bear population viability analysis based on habitat. Mark S. Boyce
1998 Michigan State University Habitat evaluation and communication strategies to reduce agricultural crop damage by white-tailed deer Kathryn B. Reis
1998 Mississippi State University Feasibility of reintroduction of the black bear into Mississippi Jacob L. Bowman
1998 Utah State University Energy, fractal movement patterns, and scale-dependent Habitat relationships of urban and rural mule deer Mark F. McClure
1999 North American Wild Sheep Conference Transaction of the North American Wild Sheep Conference, April 6-9, 1999  
2001 University of Arizona Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep James W. Cain III
2001-2002 University of Alberta The Conservation of Large Carnivores in Fragmented Landscapes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains Cheryl-Lesley Chetkiewicz
2001  University of Montana Evaluating Predator Compensation Programs as a Means of Resolving Social Conflict and Promoting Social Tolerance Jessica Montag
2001 Louisiana State University Restoration of the Black Bear into Suitable Habitats Kyle Van Why
2002 University of Arizona Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep James W. Cain III
2002 University of Montana Evaluating Predator Compensation Programs as a Means of Resolving Social Conflict and Promoting Social Tolerance Jessica Montag
2002 Louisiana State University Restoration of the Black Bear into Suitable Habitats Kyle Van Why
2003 University of Idaho - Moscow Using the metapopulation concept to understand the patial and temporal population dynamics of elk in Idaho Jocelyn L. Aycrigg
2003 University of Arizona Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep James W. Cain III
2003 Wildlife Conservation Society Kinship, population dynamics, and spatial organization of black bears Cecily M. Costello
2004 Utah State/Montana State Conditions affecting limiting factors for mule deer in Southwestern Montana Todd C. Atwood
2004 Sul Ross State University Evaluating landscape changes of mule deer habitats in Trans-Pecos, Texas Louis A. Harveson
2004 Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer James R. Heffelfinger
2005 Utah State/Montana State Conditions affecting limiting factors for mule deer in Southwestern Montana Todd C. Atwood
2005 Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer James R. Heffelfinger
2005 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Riparian Areas Charles J. Frost
2006 Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer James R. Heffelfinger
2006 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Riparian Areas Charles J. Frost
2006 Sul Ross State University Public Policy vs. Biology: Evaluating Effects of Season Change on Harvest Characteristics of Mule Deer in West Texas Ryan E. Walser
2007 Sample collection from important areas in Northern Mexico for genetic analysis of Coues white-tailed deer and diagnosis of whitetail deer x mule Carlos Alcalá-Galvan
2007 University of Maine Genetic Differentiation of Odocoileus Species Dr. Irving Kornfield
2008 Sample collection from important areas in Northern Mexico for genetic analysis of Coues white-tailed deer and diagnosis of whitetail deer x mule Carlos Alcalá-Galvan
2009 Wildlife Genetics International Differentiating Coues' whitetail deer from other whitetails Dr. David Paetkau
2010 Colorado State University Paranasal Sinus Tumors of Bighorn Sheep: Investigation of an infectious Etiology Karen A. Fox DVM
2010-2011 University of Nevada - Reno Bighorn sheep disease outbreaks:  underlying genetic diversity of declining versus persistent populations Marjorie D. Matocq, Ph.D.
2012 University of Nevada - Reno Assessment of water facilities for mule deer in the Mohave National Preserve of California Dr. Kelly Stewart
2013 University of Wyoming Fitness consequences of energy development: an effort to understand and reduce the human footprint on large ungulate populations Kevin L. Monteith
2013 Colorado State University Effects of Natural Gas Development on Neonatal Mule Deer Survival Mark E. Peterson
2014 University of Wyoming Fitness consequences of energy development: an effort to understand and reduce the human footprint on large ungulate populations Kevin L. Monteith
2014 Colorado State University Effects of Natural Gas Development on Neonatal Mule Deer Survival Mark E. Peterson
2018 National Agricultural Genotyping Center Testing for CWD in Cervids: Performance Assessment of a New Generation Assay for Ultra-low Levels of Prions Zachary William Bateson
2018 University of Alberta Quantifying Contact Rates For Disease Transmission In Mule Deer Dr. Evelyn H. Merrill
2018 Colorado State University Examination of Chronic Wasting Disease Prion Strains from Free-Ranging Cervids Mark Zabel
2019-2020 University of Alberta Modeling Spatial Harvest Strategies for Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission Dr. Evelyn H. Merrill
2019-2020 University of Wisconsin-Madison Accumulation of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Plant Tissues Dr. Joel A. Pedersen
2019-2020 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Prospective Simulation Assessments of Alternative Harvest Strategies to Mitigate and Control CWD Invastion and Spread Dr. Christopher S. Jennelle
2021-2023 Currently partnering with the CWD Alliance and other organizations to pool grant funds for CWD research.

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"The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak. So we must and we will."

-Theodore Roosevelt