Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Hosting Annual Laramie Banquet

The Laramie Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is hosting their 22nd Annual Banquet at the Laramie Ice and Event Center on June 2. The RMEF says there are six million reasons to attend the fundraiser for the conservation organization, as they'll be celebrating the six millionth acre conserved.

Banquet attendees will dine on their choice of prime rib or fresh baked salmon and have a shot to go home with some pretty sweet prizes through raffles, auctions and drawings. A Browning BLR, .270 WIN and Browning BL-22  both embellished with RMEF logo and 2012 Banquet Edition artwork will be auctioned off live, a hand made pine chest with a cedar slider will be featured in the silent auction, a Big Game Classic Gas Grill will be raffled and a Remington Model 700SPS, .280 will be in a progressive drawing. Other prizes include guns, a fly rod, wildlife prints, home decor, a smoker, hunting accessories and a Yeti cooler.

Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking here or by calling Amanda at (307)399-0740.

Local banquets provide the majority of Elk Foundation conservation dollars according to the RMEF. To date Wyoming RMEF fundraisers have protected and enhanced more than 971,000 acres of the state's critical elk habitat. All told, the Elk Foundation says that with their partners they have completed 463 projects in Wyoming with a combined value of more than $88.2 million.

This year the RMEF has a couple of projects planned for Albany County. They say they are hoping to replace 3-1/4 miles of old woven-wire fencing with wildlife-friendly fencing to improve passage for elk, deer, antelope, bighorn sheep in the Johnson Creek area of the Thorne/Williams Wildlife Management Area and prescribe burn 190 acres in the Bald Mountain area of Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.