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Elk Foundation president steps down
By SHERRY DEVLIN of the Missoulian
12/19/02
Lane, board reach mutual agreement; Fossel to serve as interim CEO
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation president and CEO Rich Lane announced his resignation Wednesday, and the group's board chairman took over as interim president.
In a written statement, Lane said he accomplished much of what he was hired to do in September 2001 - balancing the conservation group's budget, reducing long-term debts, downsizing the staff and prioritizing programs directly related to conserving wildlife habitat.
"I'll leave the Elk Foundation with a real sense of accomplishment and pride," he said.
Now, he said, he wants "to seek other professional challenges."
In his stead, Elk Foundation board chairman Jon Fossel will serve as interim president and CEO. Fossel lives in Ennis and is retired as chairman and CEO of OppenheimerFunds Inc. He is known nationally as an authority on investing and mutual funds.
In a telephone interview, Fossel said the Elk Foundation board did not ask Lane to step down, but that "it became clear to both of us that maybe it was better to move on."
"Rich came in and tackled a tough job," Fossel said. "The organization had gotten a little fat. It had tried to do too many things and spread itself too broadly. He had the tough job of cutting significant expenses. It wasn't a happy time for anybody, but was absolutely essential in the time we are living in today."
Lane was previously the regional forest resources manager for Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in Frenchtown and chairman of Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. To avoid any potential conflict of interest, he stepped down from the FWP Commission when he went to work at the Elk Foundation.
Lane's last day at the foundation will be Jan. 15. He did not return telephone calls from the Missoulian on Wednesday.
In his written statement, Lane hailed the group for the 3.8 million acres of wildlife habitat it has preserved since 1984. "Nobody does more for habitat conservation in the West, or elk restoration in the East," he said. "We've laid a groundwork from which many great things will be launched in the coming months. I believe that very deeply. And I plan to be a part of that growth, that excitement."
The group posted one of its most successful years in 2002, protecting and conserving about 400,000 additional acres of habitat, including acquisition of the $21.5 million Double H Ranch in New Mexico. The ranch was among the largest gifts ever given to a conservation group.
Also posted was a membership record: 138,000.
"You look at the year and, holy smokes, it was a great one," Fossel said, "and that's pretty amazing considering everything that was going on in the world and with other nonprofits."
Fossel said he will serve as the interim - and unpaid - CEO only until fishing season opens on the Madison River, along which he lives. "And in the perfect world, we'll find somebody next week," he said. "Our first priority is to find the absolutely best person we can find, if possible by the end of February when we have our national convention."
"The most critical thing from all our point of view is to keep doing the mission," Fossel said. "We need to get more critical elk and other wildlife habitat protected. Critical habitat, especially in valleys and winter range, is disappearing faster than even the Elk Foundation can protect."
"Do we do other things that are important as well? Conservation education? Promote ethical hunting? Yes," he said. "But head and shoulders above all else is the habitat protection, but then making sure it is healthy once we've got it."
The group's one failing in recent months was to secure the large donations needed for its capital campaign - so construction can begin on a new headquarters at the mouth of Grant Creek, a $12 million project.
"It's tough to raise big hunks of money," Fossel said. "It will probably take us another year, but we are absolutely committed to building that new facility."
About 144 people are employed at the Elk Foundation, down 30-plus from September 2001. But there will be no cuts in the year ahead, Fossel said. "There's no second shoe out there, waiting to be dropped."
Fossel said he will not be a candidate for the president's job, and does not want to make the three-hour commute from Ennis to Missoula any longer than absolutely necessary.
During Fossel's 10 years at OppenheimerFunds, the firm's assets increased more than sevenfold and its market share more than quadrupled. From 1994 to 1996, he also served as chairman of the Investment Company Institute, the industry's $3.5 trillion trade association.
At present, he is an independent trustee on the board of 30 Oppenheimer mutual funds, and on the board of PR Pharmaceuticals Inc. and chairman of its finance committee. He will step down as the Elk Foundation's board chairman while filling in behind Lane; the interim board chairman will be Jack Ward Thomas, former chief of the U.S. Forest Service, now a professor at the University of Montana.
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com.
By SHERRY DEVLIN of the Missoulian
12/19/02
Lane, board reach mutual agreement; Fossel to serve as interim CEO
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation president and CEO Rich Lane announced his resignation Wednesday, and the group's board chairman took over as interim president.
In a written statement, Lane said he accomplished much of what he was hired to do in September 2001 - balancing the conservation group's budget, reducing long-term debts, downsizing the staff and prioritizing programs directly related to conserving wildlife habitat.
"I'll leave the Elk Foundation with a real sense of accomplishment and pride," he said.
Now, he said, he wants "to seek other professional challenges."
In his stead, Elk Foundation board chairman Jon Fossel will serve as interim president and CEO. Fossel lives in Ennis and is retired as chairman and CEO of OppenheimerFunds Inc. He is known nationally as an authority on investing and mutual funds.
In a telephone interview, Fossel said the Elk Foundation board did not ask Lane to step down, but that "it became clear to both of us that maybe it was better to move on."
"Rich came in and tackled a tough job," Fossel said. "The organization had gotten a little fat. It had tried to do too many things and spread itself too broadly. He had the tough job of cutting significant expenses. It wasn't a happy time for anybody, but was absolutely essential in the time we are living in today."
Lane was previously the regional forest resources manager for Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in Frenchtown and chairman of Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. To avoid any potential conflict of interest, he stepped down from the FWP Commission when he went to work at the Elk Foundation.
Lane's last day at the foundation will be Jan. 15. He did not return telephone calls from the Missoulian on Wednesday.
In his written statement, Lane hailed the group for the 3.8 million acres of wildlife habitat it has preserved since 1984. "Nobody does more for habitat conservation in the West, or elk restoration in the East," he said. "We've laid a groundwork from which many great things will be launched in the coming months. I believe that very deeply. And I plan to be a part of that growth, that excitement."
The group posted one of its most successful years in 2002, protecting and conserving about 400,000 additional acres of habitat, including acquisition of the $21.5 million Double H Ranch in New Mexico. The ranch was among the largest gifts ever given to a conservation group.
Also posted was a membership record: 138,000.
"You look at the year and, holy smokes, it was a great one," Fossel said, "and that's pretty amazing considering everything that was going on in the world and with other nonprofits."
Fossel said he will serve as the interim - and unpaid - CEO only until fishing season opens on the Madison River, along which he lives. "And in the perfect world, we'll find somebody next week," he said. "Our first priority is to find the absolutely best person we can find, if possible by the end of February when we have our national convention."
"The most critical thing from all our point of view is to keep doing the mission," Fossel said. "We need to get more critical elk and other wildlife habitat protected. Critical habitat, especially in valleys and winter range, is disappearing faster than even the Elk Foundation can protect."
"Do we do other things that are important as well? Conservation education? Promote ethical hunting? Yes," he said. "But head and shoulders above all else is the habitat protection, but then making sure it is healthy once we've got it."
The group's one failing in recent months was to secure the large donations needed for its capital campaign - so construction can begin on a new headquarters at the mouth of Grant Creek, a $12 million project.
"It's tough to raise big hunks of money," Fossel said. "It will probably take us another year, but we are absolutely committed to building that new facility."
About 144 people are employed at the Elk Foundation, down 30-plus from September 2001. But there will be no cuts in the year ahead, Fossel said. "There's no second shoe out there, waiting to be dropped."
Fossel said he will not be a candidate for the president's job, and does not want to make the three-hour commute from Ennis to Missoula any longer than absolutely necessary.
During Fossel's 10 years at OppenheimerFunds, the firm's assets increased more than sevenfold and its market share more than quadrupled. From 1994 to 1996, he also served as chairman of the Investment Company Institute, the industry's $3.5 trillion trade association.
At present, he is an independent trustee on the board of 30 Oppenheimer mutual funds, and on the board of PR Pharmaceuticals Inc. and chairman of its finance committee. He will step down as the Elk Foundation's board chairman while filling in behind Lane; the interim board chairman will be Jack Ward Thomas, former chief of the U.S. Forest Service, now a professor at the University of Montana.
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com.
