MISSOULA, MONTANA—Boone and Crockett Club President Lowell E. Baier, the 2008 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year, will apply his $50,000 prize toward habitat restoration and interpretive projects at Theodore Roosevelt’s historic 23,550-acre Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota.
Baier, of Potomac, Md., spearheaded a collaborative effort to acquire, preserve and protect the ranch, a project that came to fruition in 2007. The ranch is now held by the U.S. Forest Service.
The $50,000 from Budweiser and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation can be matched, which could increase the award to as much as $200,000.
Baier was selected for the award over three other nominees in an open-ballot vote on Budweiser’s web site. He was honored recently in a ceremony in Las Vegas.
With 37 years of volunteer service to conservation, Baier has amassed a long and impressive list of accomplishments. He was the lead in drafting President Bush’s wildlife conservation agenda, and a delegate to the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation as well as the U.S. Forest Service Centennial Steering Committee.
“It is with great humility that I accept this award not only for myself, but also for the other nominees, for my brethren in the Boone and Crockett Club and all of our fellow stewards who labor selflessly in noble service to enhance our country’s wildlife and natural resources. This award would have made Theodore Roosevelt immensely proud of his progeny,” said Baier.
Roosevelt established Elkhorn Ranch in 1884 and founded Boone and Crockett Club in 1887.
Bob Fishbeck, Budweiser product manager for Anheuser-Busch Inc., said, “It is an honor for us to recognize Lowell, our 13th Budweiser Conservationist of the Year, and his many years of service promoting conservation initiatives with the Boone and Crockett Club and across the country.”
Since Anheuser-Busch was founded in 1852, the company has been committed to supporting the environment and conserving natural resources. In 1995, the leading American brewer bolstered its support by creating the “Budweiser Outdoors” program.
Baier co-founded the National Capital Area Chapter of Safari Club International. He is founding charter member No. 14 of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, serving as an officer or board member for 15 years and national convention chairman from 1978 to 1981. He spearheaded the rescue and preservation of the National Collection of Head and Horns. For the last 25 years, he has played a key role in the renaissance of the Boone and Crockett Club, with a principal role in establishing Boone and Crockett’s post-graduate wildlife program at the University of Montana and the National Conservation Leadership Institute for mid-career government wildlife managers.
About the Boone and Crockett Club
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club promotes guardianship and provident management of big game and associated wildlife in North America. It maintains the highest standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in all aspects of big game hunting so that these resources of the people may survive and prosper in natural habitats. Club member accomplishments include the protection of Yellowstone and creation of Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the National Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, passing the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, establishing the Federal Duck Stamp Program, and developing original codes of conduct which later became the cornerstone of modern game laws. Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Mont. To learn more, visit www.boone-crockett.org
