{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-receives-rocky-mountain-elk-foundation-excellence-advocacy-award", "Zinke Receives Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Excellence in Advocacy Award", "2026-08-21", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Ryan K. Zinke", "Z000018", "zinke.house.gov", "zinke", "https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Missoula, M.T. \u2013 Today, Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke received the Excellence in Advocacy Award from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), recognizing his work to advance conservation, wildlife management, public access to public lands, and America\u2019s hunting heritage.\n\n\u201cRMEF has been one of the strongest conservation partners in Montana and across the West, and I\u2019m honored to receive this award,\u201d said Zinke. \u201cFrom keeping public lands in public hands to improving elk migration corridors and restoring healthy forests, we share a belief that conservation works best when hunters, landowners, states, tribes, and federal managers are at the table. I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished together and look forward to the next generation of leadership in this effort.\u201d\n\n\u201cCongressman Zinke has proven time and again through legislative leadership and action that he is committed to real conservation and America\u2019s public lands,\u201d said Kyle Weaver, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation president and CEO. \u201cHis work crafting and advancing critical legislation resulted in impactful conservation outcomes, making him an invaluable ally to hunter-conservationists throughout our nation.\"\n\nThe partnership between Zinke and RMEF extends back to his first term in the House of Representatives, when they worked together on federal forest management reforms that would later help shape provisions included in the House-passed Fix Our Forests Act. Zinke and RMEF also worked to oppose the sale of public lands and protect funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.\n\nThat partnership expanded during Zinke\u2019s time leading the Department of the Interior. In 2018, Zinke signed Secretarial Order 3362, launching a federal effort to improve western big-game winter range and migration corridors for elk, mule deer and pronghorn through partnerships with states, private landowners and conservation organizations. The initiative remains a major RMEF conservation priority and laid the groundwork for ongoing migration corridor work across the West.\n\nBuilding on that effort, Zinke introduced the bipartisan Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, which strengthens voluntary, state and tribal-led efforts to conserve big-game migration corridors, improve habitat connectivity and support research and mapping. RMEF hosted the original rollout of the legislation at its Missoula headquarters and praised the bill as directly aligned with its conservation mission.\n\nZinke and RMEF have also worked together in support of several other major conservation and public lands priorities, including the bipartisan Public Lands in Public Hands Act, the House-passed Fix Our Forests Act, the Wildlife Road Crossings Program Reauthorization Act and the Grizzly Bear State Management Act. RMEF also endorsed the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus co-founded by Zinke, furthering their work on conservation, wildlife habitat, public access and responsible land management and creating a platform for future conservation minded legislators to continue the progress made by their partnership.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-22T05:24:59Z", "2026-08-22T05:26:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-receives-rocky-mountain-elk-foundation-excellence-advocacy-award"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6606020033359528, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}