Regional Habitat Programs

OPERATION SOS
Operation SOS (Set Out Seedlings), helps provide important winter food sources for wild turkeys and other wildlife in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario. Over the past six years, NWTF chapters in these states and provinces have enhanced 1.4 million acres of habitat by planting mast-producing shrubs and trees for wildlife. Sponsors: Duke Energy, MeadWestvaco, NWTF local chapters

OPERATION BIG SKY
Operation Big Sky is the NWTF's flagship habitat program for wildlife in the northern Great Plains. Through the Big Sky program, NWTF chapters plant mast-producing shrubs, help provide standing grain and help ranchers that winter large numbers of turkeys on their property. Since 2001, chapters in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas have enhanced 730,000 acres of habitat for wild turkeys and other wildlife. Sponsors: Marathon, Miller High Life, NWTF local chapters

GUZZLERS FOR GOBBLERS
The Guzzlers for Gobblers program is a habitat enhancement program for arid areas in the west. Projects funded through this program include developing water catchments, improving riparian habitat, enhancing natural springs, installing water guzzlers and planting wildlife friendly seedlings. Chapters in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Oklahoma, along with cooperators, have spent more than $3.5 million to enhance 1.7 million acres of wildlife habitat.
Sponsors: NWTF local chapters

OPERATION HEARTLAND
Operation Heartland aims to restore bottomland hardwoods and riparian corridors in the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River valleys. Chapters in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma have enhanced more than 486,000 acres by planting oak and green ash seedlings. Sponsors: DeltAg Wildlife, Miller High Life, Natural Resources Conservation Service, NWTF local chapters

OPERATION OAK
Operation Oak is dedicated to restoring and creating oak habitats throughout the southeast. Since its inception, chapters and landowners in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas have planted 331,000 oak seedlings that provide important food sources for southeastern wildlife. To download a package that contains an Operation Oak memo and seedling request form click here. Sponsors: DeltAg Wildlife, International Paper, Miller High Life, Natural Resources Conservation Service, NWTF local chapters

Private landowners across the Southeast can also plant oak seedlings to provide important oak habitat for southeastern wildlife. Click on the following linds to download an oak seedling request package for your state: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia.

OPERATION APPLESEED
Operation Appleseed provides important winter foods for wildlife in the snowy northeast. Chapters from West Virginia to Maine plant crabapples each fall to benefit songbirds, grouse, wild turkeys and other species. More than 64,000 acres of wildlife habitat has been enhanced through Operation Appleseed. Sponsors: Central Vermont Public Service, International Paper, L.L. Bean, NWTF local chapters

SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS RIPARIAN INITIATIVE
Started in 2001, the Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative is the latest in the NWTF's regional habitat programs. The mission of this program is to restore and maintain wooded zones in the southern Great Plains by assisting landowners and communities with management efforts. States participating in the program include Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. Sponsors: Miller Brewing Company, BASF, Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation, Local NWTF Chapters

NORTHERN PLAINS RIPARIAN RESTORATION INITIATIVE
With the success of the Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative, the NWTF created the Northern Plains Riparian Restoration Initiative to enhance riparian habitat in the Northern Great Plains. Through this program, the NWTF and its cooperators have spent $20,000 to enhance along streams and rivers in the Northern Plains states. Sponsors: BASF, Miller Brewing Company, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation