
Hunters and conservation advocates rejoice as the annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Price Chapter banquet is coming up on Saturday, Feb. 8. To speak on the event and how the foundation supports the elk population, Castle Country Radio was joined by Price Chapter President Jeff Cisneros.
Opening our conversation, Cisneros explained what the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation does,” It’s a national organization that’s been around since 1984 when it was established. They give out a ton of donations every year to organizations for habitat and to better the elk herd in the state of Utah.” He continued,” I’ve always been a little skeptical of these big organizations and where all this money goes that’s raised and all these tags that are being auctioned off now … But I can say from what I’ve been involved with now being a member for four or five years with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation that this money all goes back into the habitat for elk. And if you look at the elk herds in Utah right now, they are thriving.”
The banquet will feature food, games and both silent and live auctions. “My main focus is getting as many people in the doors as we can. If that means not buying a ticket package, you can still come to the event. You can still buy raffle tickets and bid on live or silent auction items. You do need to buy a dinner ticket before the event if you’re going to do a dinner, just so we can have a head count for our catered dinner.”
Cisneros added,” My big thing is just getting everybody involved and out for a great cause to raise some money that I know goes right back into our local stuff. And we have some nice stuff to give away. It keeps getting delivered to my house about every other day, and I keep opening stuff up and saying,’ Man, this would sure be nice, this would sure be nice.’ But anybody who’s been to these banquets, you have an opportunity to win some pretty nice items. And it’s not just for the hunters, it’s for everybody. So as far as that goes, I’d love to see us put as many people in the seats at the banquet as we can.”
The pricing for the banquet tickets including the meal is as follows:
Tickets can be purchased here.
“It’s hard for us to afford these kinds of things. And I’m trying to do my best to keep the cost down on a banquet like this. But unfortunately to cover everything and to do what you have to do, it costs money. And then when you’re giving away hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars back to the community when it comes to conservation. I mean, that costs money,” explained Cisneros. “ The banquet itself is a small piece of what they give back and how much money this organization raises. And if you’re not an elk hunter or a hunting enthusiast, you can still come. You could probably learn a lot about where the money does go or just an event to get the wife and go out and have a meal and do something different from sitting at home on a Saturday night.”
In closing, Cisneros stated,” Don’t miss out on a great opportunity to come spend two or three hours and just have a great experience and, you know, maybe meet some new people. I’m always looking for suggestions. That’s going to be my biggest thing with taking over this banquet, I want to hear from the people there. I think if enough people have a voice, you can make some changes. I firmly believe that. So if nothing, come give me some suggestions on what we can do with the elk herd in our state and what can make things better and go from there.”
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Price Chapter banquet will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8 starting at 5 p.m. For questions, you can contact Cisneros at 435-820-8379. Tickets are available online and can be purchased here.