MEEKER | As attendees filled the room for an evening of auctions, raffles and community celebration, the focus of the night extended far beyond the banquet hall.
More than 350 people attended the annual banquet hosted by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s Flat Tops chapter — the largest Meeker banquet to date — highlighting ongoing efforts to restore land and wildlife habitat impacted by the Lee Fire and Elk fires in northwest Colorado.
“This entire banquet is put on 100% by volunteers,” said Dan McClain, regional director for the organization. “I’m the only paid person in the state of Colorado on the Western Slope, and we have an amazing committee here.”
McClain announced during the event that the Flat Tops chapter reached a major milestone, surpassing $2 million in net proceeds — money that goes directly back into conservation projects.
Those funds have already made a significant impact locally. According to McClain, the organization has committed $280,000 toward projects tied to the Lee and Elk fires, including reseeding, water development, weed treatment and fence repairs.
“For the Lee and Elk fires, RMEF has funded $280,000 in projects,” McClain said. “Those projects include reseeding, water development, weed spraying, among other things, some fence repairs as well.”
Additional support from the organization’s national office helped close a funding gap and ensure those projects could move forward.
“We were about $80,000 short of funding that $280,000, and with a couple of phone calls to national headquarters, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation kicked in that last $80,000,” he said.
The work is part of a broader, long-term effort to restore habitat in an area that supports one of the largest elk populations in the world.
“It was important to us to fund as many projects as we can in this area due to the Lee and Elk fires,” McClain said. “First and foremost, we’re involved in this community. This community supports us, but the largest elk herd in the entire world is in this area, lives in this area, migrates in this area, calves in this area.”
The fires had a widespread impact on that habitat, making restoration efforts critical for wildlife survival.
“The fires devastated the entire area,” he said. “So the projects that we’re doing are reseeding projects, water development projects — things to get the habitat back up to the standard that it needs to be, back up to where it was before the fires, so it can support the wildlife.”
Some of that work mirrors recent on-the-ground restoration efforts carried out by the Bureau of Land Management and local partners, where volunteers helped reseed hundreds of acres across the burn scar.
McClain said recovery will take time and continued investment, with the organization planning to fund projects in the area for years to come.
“It’s going to take years for it to fully recover, unfortunately, and this is going to be a multi-year project for us,” he said. “We’re going to spend money in this area on an annual basis for several more years.”
Key efforts include reseeding burned areas, improving water sources and repairing damaged infrastructure on both public and private lands.
“The most important thing is the water development and the reseeding to get that growth back so that the habitat has the food that they need to survive,” McClain said.
Restoration work like reseeding directly impacts elk by rebuilding essential habitat.
“It benefits all wildlife, but elk specifically, it’s just bringing that habitat back so that they have that food and getting that water supply back in that area for them,” he said. “If you don’t get it back to where it needs to be, they won’t survive — they’ll move out of this habitat.”
While the evening centered on fundraising, McClain emphasized that the success of the event — and the projects it supports — depends on local involvement.
“We couldn’t do it without you,” he told attendees.
As the night’s final bids were placed and the milestone reached, the impact of the evening extended far beyond the banquet hall — with each dollar raised helping restore the landscape and ensure the long-term health of the wildlife that depend on it.
While full recovery from the Lee and Elk fires may take years, the work supported by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is helping lay the groundwork for healthier habitat and stronger wildlife populations in the future.
From left to right, RMEF Flat Tops Chapter volunteers Chapter Chairman Travis Flaharty, RMEF Regional Director Dan McClain, and Chapter Co-Chair Michael Miller stand in front of the $2 million net proceeds banner at the annual banquet. JARED HENDERSON PHOTO
RMEF Flat Tops Chapter volunteers celebrate on stage after surpassing $2 million in net proceeds at the annual banquet, marking the largest Meeker banquet to date and highlighting the community’s support for local wildlife and habitat restoration.