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Mission:
To ensure that wild turkey populations and their habitats are managed and conserved to benefit all associated wildlife species through collaborative conservation. |
As wild turkey populations increase across North America, it's important to look toward the future of wild turkey management to ensure North America's largest game bird for generations to come. Enter the North American Wild Turkey Management Plan.
In 2007, at the inaugural North American Wild Turkey Management Plan Summit, the National Wild Turkey Federation assembled agency and organizational partners to develop the mission and guiding principles for the NAWTMP.
The NAWTMP addresses wild turkeys on international, national, regional and local levels. Its design and structure allows management objectives to adjust to the changing demands of wildlife conservation, while supporting the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, habitat joint ventures and bird conservation regions.
The structure of NABCI provides a North American perspective on wild turkey habitat requirements across political boundaries. This approach is an intuitive tool to plan and integrate wild turkey habitat management and restoration efforts with other important regional conservation needs.
Guiding Principles of the North American Wild Turkey Management Plan
 Habitat management activities that benefit wild turkeys also benefit other plant and wildlife species across North America, including many endangered and threatened species.
- Wild turkey conservation requires cooperation between federal, state and provincial agencies, conservation organizations and private landowners.
- Wild turkey populations are dependent on conservation and active management of wild turkey habitat.
 Wild turkey management decisions should prevent population declines, and be applied to balance social and biological carrying capacity.
- Wild turkeys should be managed as specific species and subspecies: Eastern, Gould's, Merriam's, Osceola, Rio Grande, occellated.
- Partnerships should pool resources to finance habitat projects that benefit a multitude of species.
- State, federal and provincial agencies will continue to oversee wildlife management and should optimize hunting opportunities while ensuring future wild turkey populations.
- North America's hunting heritage, along with conservation education, is important to the future wildlife conservation.
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