Mossy Oak congratulates our friend Eric Siegfried, the inventive founder of onXmaps, for his selection as the 2021 Conservationist of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF).
Siegfried’s spark of genius revolutionized hunting, unlocking one of the most troubling issues faced by traditional outdoorsmen – and since its premier in 2009 the company has dedicated more than $1 million to conservation.
As a young engineer and lifelong hunter, Siegfried loaded state-land ownership maps onto micro SD cards, then adapted them to Garmin GPS receivers. His work, the onX Chip, allowed GPS users to instantly border-identify public and private lands.
His company launched the onXmaps’ Hunt App in 2013, transforming smartphones into map-based GPS units. The app continuously loads new information, including RMEF projects and land-access points, opening the door for hunters to learn and explore new landscapes. RMEF uses onXmap technology as a hands-on project tool, which strengthens RMEF’s impact across elk country.
Siegfried is a champion of public-land access. In 2018, he traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership to lobby Federal-land policymakers to implement long-overdue improvements to public-land access.
“No one has done more to give hunters and other recreationists supreme confidence to know exactly where they stand in the backcountry or on a mountain ridge than Eric Siegfried,” said Steve Decker, RMEF chief revenue officer. “His dedication to elk country, hunters and conservation, and RMEF, is paramount.
“Eric is a proud hunter, RMEF life member and conservationist. He has worked tirelessly to expand public access, and the onX sponsorships and support of our projects generated thousands of memberships and hundreds of thousands of dollars to further our mission,” added Decker. “We thank and salute him for his passion and dedication.”
Siegfried accepted the award at a recent RMEF big-game banquet in Missoula, Montana.
Since its founding in 1984, RMEF has conserved more than 8.1 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF works to open and improve public access, funds and advocates science-based resource management to ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation™” at rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK.
Original reporting courtesy of RMEF; image courtesy of the Missoula Current.
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