Wildlife habitat is dwindling.

While development chips away at critical parcels of land everywhere, many wildlife and fish species are headed for endangerment status.

Conservation departments, and wildlife groups such as Ducks Unlimited and Rocky Mount Elk Foundation, work constantly to protect and manage remaining natural communities and wherever possible, restore habitats that have disappeared.

One of the most recent organizations in the immediate area is the Trail of Tears Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The purpose of this non-profit, wildlife organization is to ensure the future of elk and other wildlife by conserving, restoring and enhancing natural habitats, said Jim Wilferth.

Wilferth and Lou Hagler are co-chairmen for the organization's first annual Big Game Benefit Banquet -- featuring a prime rib dinner -- Auction and Exhibition, to be held Aug. 9, at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Cape Girardeau, with a social hour at 5 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.

A total of 60 items will be available for purchase during the event,' said Wilferth.

Thirty items will be available for a silent auction during the social hour and dinner. Another 30 times will be auctioned during the live auction, starting at 8 p.m.

Items to be auctioned including a live big-game hunt, shotguns, rifles, prints, bronzes, game calls, furniture, and prints.

On display at the dinner will be wildlife mounts and art displays.

"This is a great opportunity for people to get together and talk about wildlife," said Wilferth, who owns an elk farm in Cape Girardeau County. Wilferth has 27 elks on the Rocking W Elk Farm, near Millersville.

"The big item of the auction will be a seven-day, one-person hunt for Alaskan Caribou.

Tickets for the dinner must be purchased in advance. They are available at Mail Boxes Etc., 209 S. Broadview.

Funds from RMEF events are utilized by the RMEF to protect critical elk winter ranges, migrating corridors and calving grounds.

In 1995, the RMEF reached a milestone, funding its 1,000th conservation project.

"These project not only protect elk," said Wilferth. "They benefit deer, bears, songbirds, trout and a number of other species."

Many conservation programs are carried out with the support of hunters.

Ducks Unlimited, which has been around 60 years, since 1937, has restored thousands of acres of winter nesting ground habitat for ducks, geese and other waterfowl.

"Wildlife is faced with increasing obstacles," said Wilferth. "Groups and events like these provide a fun-filled event for sportsmen, and a chance to help all wildlife."