02/23/2006
A Volunteer Rise - NWTF/TWRA Host Turkey Release Near Nashville
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The 10 hens trapped on a private farm west of Dickson County will find company in the gobblers that were freed in the same area this time last year. Their release into the J. Percy Priest Wildlife Management Area kicked off the National Wild Turkey Federation's 30th Convention and Sport Show, which celebrates the organization's efforts to restore turkeys to record numbers while preserving America's hunting heritage.
Second-graders from Donalson Christian Academy will study wild turkey habitat, their life cycle, what the birds eat and where they sleep throughout the year. Some of the hens released Wednesday were outfitted with radio transmitters strapped to the turkeys' wings. Radio telemetry allows biologists to locate birds day or night from one to three miles depending on the terrain.
Rita Byrd, the teacher who attended the release, received CD's, lesson plans and posters found in education boxes provided by the NWTF. The materials are packaged in a cardboard box similar to the ones used to transfer turkeys from one area to another.
"A child's exposure to wildlife and the workings of nature should be part of every school's curriculum," said Dr. James Earl Kennamer, the Federation's senior vice president of conservation programs. "Generations have come and gone who never saw a wild turkey. The children here today are future stewards of our natural resources, and it's important that we not lose this treasure of wildlife that has been part of our heritage for hundreds of years."
Some of the same children who attended the release returned to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel on Thursday - the first day of the convention - to call turkeys, locate turkeys and learn to hunt turkeys. More than 1,400 children from area schools were expected to attend.
A Tennessee Rise
Sixty years ago, fewer than 100 Eastern wild turkeys lived in Tennessee. But thanks to aggressive restoration efforts, that number far exceeds 300,000, making Tennessee one of the best places in the nation to hunt gobblers. Biologists say turkey hunting in the Volunteer State is as good as it's ever been, and all indications point toward continued success.
For an astonishing 21 years, hunters have seen an increase in annual wild turkey harvests. Much of the credit is given to Jack Murray, the "father of turkeys" in Tennessee, who dedicated his career at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to bringing back turkeys statewide. When Murray started his work, some counties didn't have turkeys and those that did had very few. But through hard work and smart planning, he coordinated a turkey restoration that has become widely successful. TWRA recently celebrated the release of its 14,000th bird. Today, Eastern turkeys are hunted in every county.
Although Tennessee's restoration efforts are complete, the release of the birds in Percy Priest was symbolic of what has been done to bring back this nearly extinct bird.
"For 100 years, the gobble of the wild turkey had disappeared, but wildlife agencies, including the TWRA, have made sure the sound that gets hunters out of bed on cold, damp days like this one continues," said Rob Keck, CEO of the NWTF.
A Return to Prominence
The return of the wild turkey is one of the most remarkable wildlife recovery stories in history. The birds, which roamed much of North America prior to settlement by Europeans, were on the road to extinction a century ago. Reduced to an estimated 30,000 birds during the Great Depression, today wild turkeys number nearly 7 million from coast to coast. Alaska is the only state without wild turkeys.
In the 1950s, state and federal agencies began improving habitats for wildlife species whose numbers had declined because of hunting, farming, logging and urban development. Over the last half-century, wildlife officials have trapped turkeys where remnant populations existed - primarily in swamps, backwoods and other remote places where humans hadn't intruded - and moved them to new locations, expanding the adaptable birds to their original range and beyond.
Wild turkeys also are very adaptable; they can survive on various foods - from grass - and in a variety of habitats. The five subspecies native to North America - the Eastern, Florida, Gould's, Merriam's and Rio Grande - live in woodlands and swamps, mountains and deserts.
With its 500,000 members and more than 2,200 state and local chapters, the NWTF also provides volunteer labor and money to promote habitat restoration and turkey recovery, as well as supplying containers to transport birds within and across state boundaries. More than 180,000 turkeys have been transplanted since the group's inception.
