NWTF At-A-Glance: Conservation Programs
The NWTF supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands. NWTF founders established a technical committee consisting of wild turkey biologists from state and provincial wildlife agencies who make recommendations on research, management, restoration and educational programs. Nearly 80 members from 50 states and one Canadian province are represented on the committee.
Wild Turkey Partnership Agreements provide a framework for cooperative wildlife management, research and educational activities between the NWTF and its 129 government and corporate partners. These partnerships improve millions of acres of wildlife habitat on private, corporate and public land. Federation wildlife professionals provide information to help these partners use cutting-edge wildlife management strategies in their forest and open land management programs.
Making Tracks is the cooperative program between the NWTF and state, federal, and provincial wildlife agencies to restore wild turkeys to all suitable habitat in North America. The NWTF works with wildlife agencies, coordinating the trap and transfer of wild turkeys. Wild turkey populations have more than doubled since 1990.
- In areas where they are abundant, wild turkeys are usually trapped via nets propelled or dropped over a feeding flock. Trapped birds are individually placed in specialized transport boxes, and then released in areas of suitable habitat with few or no wild turkeys. The NWTF routinely provides trapping equipment, transfer boxes and helps coordinate wild turkey transfers between states, provinces and nations.
Since the 1950s, state and provincial wildlife agencies have moved more than 192,000 wild turkeys into suitable habitat across North America. The NWTF, which was founded in 1973, has helped accelerate those efforts through the purchase of trapping equipment, transfer boxes, funding and the help of its volunteers. Currently, there are more than 7 million wild turkeys throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- The NWTF coordinated the relocation of 3,221 birds during the 2007 trap and transfer season throughout North America. This project is supported by NWTF Hunting Heritage Super Fund dollars and corporate partners.
The NWTF has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Defense to conduct Hunting Heritage Super Fund Projects.
The NWTF is one of the only conservation organizations with employees from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service on staff. By having them as part of the NWTF team, it allows the NWTF to help more people effectively manage more acres for wildlife habitat.
Hunting Heritage Super Fund projects include establishing walk-in hunting areas, planting wildlife openings, developing water resources, conducting prescribed burns, co-hosting outdoor learning events for women, children and individuals with disabilities through the NWTF's 2,350 chapters across the country and supporting the reintroduction of the Gould's wild turkey in Arizona.
Go for the Gould's
Since 2003, the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the NWTF have transferred 320 Gould's wild turkeys from Mexico and Arizona to the Chiricahua, Huachuca and Pinaleno mountains of southern Arizona, an area where the Gould's once thrived but was extirpated, mainly due to unregulated hunting. Since 2002, more than $90,000 has been raised for the restoration through Gould's hunting permit auctions.
Go for the Gould's U.S. project partners include:
• NWTF-Arizona State Chapter
• El Coronado Ranch
• USDA Forest Service
• Coronado National Forest
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• USDA-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Mexican project partners include:
• SEMARNAT (Secretary of Natural Resources)
• AMAVISI (Association of Wildlife Managers)
• ENDESU (Natural Spaces and Sustainable Development)
• ASOCIES (Senoran Outfitters Association)
• Wingshooters Lodge
• Monte Escobedo Ranch
• Rancho Antrialgo
Research
Since 1977, the NWTF has provided $4.2 million in national project research grants to many state agencies and universities. While these grants fund different projects, they all share the common goal of "working for the wild turkey." Past projects have addressed many areas of turkey research, including varied topics such as population dynamics, habitat suitability, disease, predation, nesting success and more.
National Wild Turkey Symposia
National Wild Turkey Symposia are held every five years. The NWTF helps coordinate the symposia program and supports the conference financially.
- Symposia proceedings provide professional wildlife managers and researchers the opportunity to review current research and management concepts relating to wild turkeys.
NWTF Hunting Heritage Club Program
This new membership program focuses on bringing all types of hunters into the fight to maintain our freedom to hunt and manage our lands. Our 88,366 members receive Get in the Game magazine, a "how to" land management, hunting and hunting advocacy publication, as well as the option to get a free management plan for their property developed by their state's forestry agency (in participating states). Members will also be notified about landowner field days that are being conducted in their area.
Wild Turkey Woodlands is another part of the HHC and is a recognition program delivered by local chapters. Chapters nominate and recognize landowners that have a management plan for their property and are currently managing for wildlife. Selected landowners will receive a Woodland's sign for their property and recognition at the local NWTF chapter banquet. In addition, recipients of the Woodland's sign are eligible for the Wild Turkey Woodlands Award which is presented at the NWTF National Convention and Sport Show.
Project HELP
Project HELP® (Habitat Enhancement Land Program) is an NWTF program developed to help landowners manage and enhance their land by providing guidance and offering seeds and seedlings at competitive prices.
- The Get in the Game manual is a 54-page management guide full of up-to-date information on everything from timber management to planting and managing wildlife openings for all landowners, including corporations, timber growers, small land owners and hunt club members.
- The interactive land management CD, Get in the Game: Attracting Wildlife to Your Land, includes an electronic planting guide, mapping program, landowner journal, turkey quiz, resource material and more. The CD is a reference guide produced by the NWTF that helps landowners manage land for wild turkeys, deer, quail and a variety of other birds and animals.
- The NWTF's two land-management videos, Managing Openings and Growing Chufa, are 30-minute videos that show the fundamentals of managing wildlife openings. NWTF biologists share the latest techniques to help you attract and keep more wildlife, especially turkeys, on your land..
- Since 1992, sales have resulted in more than 3 million pounds of seed and 2.5 million seedlings, equaling a total of 161,000 acres being planted for wild turkeys and other wildlife.
- The Project HELP catalog, which lists the seed, seedlings and habitat management products available through the program, is free to members and the public.
Conservation Seed Program
Since 1977, NWTF chapters have planted more than 33 million pounds of seed for wildlife through this program. The year-old grain seed is available for the cost of shipping and handling in tractor trailer loads.
Regional Habitat Programs
The NWTF's regional habitat programs provide seedlings and other habitat improvement products to NWTF chapters and private landowners across North America. There are six programs including:
• Operation Appleseed (Northeast)
• Operation Oak (Southeast)
• Operation Heartland (Midwest)
• Operation SOS (Upper Midwest and Ontario, Canada)
• Operation Big Sky (Great Plains)
• Guzzlers for Gobblers (West)
• Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative
• Northern Plains Riparian Initiative
Since 1997, more than 1.5 million seedlings have been planted through the regional habitat programs, more than 856 water development projects, more than 300 tons of oats and hay, 40,000 sqare feet of netting and 2,500 acres of standing grain have been left to assist landowners with large wintering populations of wild turkeys. Through the Guzzlers program alone, the NWTF and its partners have put more than $2 million toward habitat improvement projects in the West. The regional habitat programs have improved over 5.7 million acres for wildlife.
Seed Subsidy Program
Seed Subsidy Program is designed to help NWTF members purchase seed to benefit wildlife through habitat planting, especially on private lands. This help comes from the Hunting Heritage Super Fund of participating NWTF state chapters. Since 2002, NWTF members have purchased over 1.5 million pounds of seed and improved more than 76,000 acres of habitat through the program.
Energy for Wildlife
Energy for Wildlife is a conservation program for energy companies with 28 corporate members and more than 2 million acres of property enrolled. This program works to improve wildlife habitat on rights of way and other energy company property through changes in vegetation management and will help promote these properties as good wildlife habitat for the public, rights of way landowners and company customers. Energy for Wildlife is a membership-based, certification program open to any energy company with rights of way and/or other company property that can be managed.
North American Wild Turkey Management Plan
North American Wild Turkey Management Plan is designed to identify wild turkey habitat and potential habitat projects throughout North America using GIS technology. The plan has helped establish wild turkey populations on approximately 2 million acres in North America. The future focus of the plan will be identifying key habitat projects and important areas for wild turkeys on a state by state basis. The plan has received national and international endorsement from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Management.
Northern Plains Riparian Restoration Initiative
The Northern Plains Riparian Restoration Initiative is the NWTF's program to improve habitat along rivers, streams and around roost areas for the benefit of numerous species of wildlife. The plan will also educate landowners on how they can improve their properties for wildlife. In western South Dakota and North Dakota, and eastern Montana and Wyoming, wildlife habitat along flowing waterways is dwindling. With active work through this program, we'll be able to restore riparian forests, which will benefit numerous wildlife species including wild turkeys.
Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative
Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative is one of the largest habitat improvement efforts ever initiated by the NWTF. The riparian initiative will improve wildlife habitat all across the Southern Great Plains, where plants such as salt cedar, Russian olive and certain land use practices are a threat. The initiative is a commitment to improve wildlife habitat on thousands of miles of rivers and streams in several states including Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Over 30 million acres could be improved through this project. To date, more than $1.4 million have been spent to improve wildlife habitat on 22,333 acres through the Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative.
Wild Turkey Country
Wild Turkey Country is the NWTF's land conservation program. Since 1987, the NWTF has spent more than $8 million through the Hunting Heritage Super Fund to protect nearly 310,000 acres of land from development. Through the Wild Turkey Country program, the NWTF will work to protect key wildlife habitat through land acquisition projects and conservation easements with willing private landowners.
