MANDAN, N.D. -- Tesoro has announced a $50,000 grant to help restore the historic viewshed of President Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch. The USDA Forest Service recently acquired the largest remaining remnant of Roosevelt's North Dakota ranch still in private ownership with the support of the Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch.
Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch, founded by members of the Boone & Crockett Club (the nation's oldest wildlife conservation organization, founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, announced on [image-nocss] May 7 that the Forest Service would purchase the historic ranch as a result of a $500,000 challenge grant awarded by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The NFWF grant ensured the purchase of the historic Elkhorn viewshed, the transfer of ownership to the Forest Service and the intent of the Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch to support future stewardship work on the land. Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch have set a goal of raising an additional $500,000 to restore native prairie and riparian areas, improve wildlife habitat and develop educational and recreation opportunities.
Environmental stewardship is one of Tesoro's core values, said Alan Anderson, Tesoro's Mandan refinery manager. Our $50,000 grant announced today supports a much broader restoration program in the region where our employees work and live. We are proud to be part of the restoration that will impact such diverse wildlife populations that play such an important role in the health of the prairie and the nation's agricultural lands.
MDU Resources Group, with funding from the MDU Resources Foundation, joined Tesoro and a dozen sportsmen conservation groups in announcing a $25,000 leadership grant to support the restoration and stewardship of the Elkhorn.
With the announcement of these contributions, including leadership grants from the Mule Deer Foundation, MN/WI Chapter of the Foundation of North American Wild Sheep and the National Wild Turkey Foundation, the Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch have raised $880,000 toward the $1 million acquisition, restoration and stewardship funding goal.
The 5,200-acre historic viewshed, prized by Roosevelt for its beauty and lamented for its loss of big game in the 1880s, is now managed as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. The Forest Service is evaluating restoration and management plans on important wildlife feeding, nesting and breeding areas, migratory wildlife corridors and the encroachment of invasive plants along the Little Missouri River and its tributaries.
Dave Pieper, Forest Service supervisor of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, said, The restoration of approximately 2,000 critical acres of Elkhorn's wildlife habitat, as well as innovative livestock-grazing management could well impact more than 100,000 acres of the prairie. Tesoro, MDU Resources Group, and the sportsmen conservation groups who are stepping forward now are working with the Forest Service to ensure the long-term health of these lands.
The Elkhorn is also recognized as prime habitat for North Dakota's rebounding population of North American wild sheep whose population statewide has nearly doubled to 300 with 16 herds since 1999. Restoration of our native prairie is essential to wild sheep, antelope, elk and mule deer, whose populations have been impacted by the growth of many non-native plant species, said Larry Baesler, land program manager of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
The Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch represents the support of individuals and organizations to acquire, restore, and share with the public the historic and ecological significance of President Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranchlands. The Friends of the Elkhorn Ranch was founded by members of the Boone & Crockett Club, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Theodore Roosevelt Association.
Tesoro is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Through its subsidiaries, Tesoro operates seven refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of approximately 660,000 barrels per day. Tesoro's retail-marketing system includes more than 880 branded retail stations, of which more than 460 are company owned retail stations.
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