As fall approaches, the conservation education program staff is switching gears from warm-weather maintenance projects and summer camp activities to agency retreats, hunter education events, and overnight school field trips! It has been a hot, dry, and action-packed few months since opening the ed center doors back in April, and we look forward to the cooler mornings, bugling elk, and the new audiences this change of season brings to the TRM Ranch.

So far this season, the place-based conservation education programs have hosted 14 field trips, which include over two dozen teachers and 304 students. A low winter snowpack resulted in drier-than-usual river conditions for the Montana High Adventure Base scouts; however, all treks still occurred as usual, with the transition in river drainages occurring earlier than normal. All said, 60 Scouts from seven different states floated and hiked through the 1 million-plus-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Two amazing summer interns, both from the University of Montana, helped pull off three Outdoor Adventure Camps jam-packed with 45 middle and high school-aged campers. The Rasmuson Wildlife Conservation Center hosted several NGO workshops and retreats, including a Master Naturalist field finale and the Montana Wild Sheep Foundation summer board meeting.

This fall, we look forward to the annual University of Montana Wild Sustenance field weekend course, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists' work group retreat, and off-site conferences hosted by AFWA and The Wildlife Society. On the virtual front, our newest conservation education outreach program will feature the soon-to-launch Roosevelt Ranch Radio podcast, a sub-channel of the newly released Heritage of the Hunt parent podcast. With over 20 episodes recorded so far, we can’t wait to share the stories and work of our guests and friends from the conservation education program!

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Conservation Research – University Programs

Following the spring University Programs retreat hosted at the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, multiple action items have been fully implemented to enhance communication and awareness across various conservation research fronts.

The Club is proud to announce “What’s U.P.?”, a monthly newsletter feature highlighting the Club’s University Programs (U.P.) and its fellows. Each month, a different University Program will be highlighted, providing readers with a quick look into the valuable work that these campuses, their faculty, and especially their B&C fellows are accomplishing. 

The University Programs subcommittee has also developed and scheduled a webinar series that occurs biannually, bringing in wildlife conservation professionals to discuss their perspectives on important industry insights. Currently scheduled topics include how to maximize the benefits of professional conferences, working effectively with elected officials, and best practices for communicating with the public, among others.

This semester, we have 21 Boone and Crockett Fellows spread across seven active programs. Four are post-doctoral researchers, 12 are working on their PhD, and three students are completing a master’s degree, while one student is in an undergraduate program completing a bachelor’s in wildlife ecology and management. 

Steve Leath, Josh Millspaugh, and Tom Lewis are once again engaged in the search for a new Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Montana. In addition, Jayar Daily and Steve Leath are leading a similar process with a search committee focused on hiring a Boone and Crockett Chair in Wildlife Conservation and Policy at Texas A&M. This process is expected to be completed by October 1, 2025.