America's Big Six Success Stories

The NWTF, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various other wildlife organizations demonstrated shared stewardship in what was a multiyear wildlife habitat restoration in the Missouri River Breaks region of central Montana.

12,500 acres of land are open for public access in the Loess Canyon area of Nebraska, thanks in part to the contributions from the National Wild Turkey Federation and a variety of other partners to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s via the Canyon Access Initiative.

NWTF Alabama chapter, the Choccolocco Valley Longbeards, planted 10 acres of wildlife openings in the Ivory Mountain Walk-in Turkey Hunting Area (IMWTH) in Cleburne County, Alabama. 

The National Wild Turkey Federation and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks are collaborating to improve habitat and hunting quality in the Charles Ray Nix Wildlife Management Area. 

Hardwood mulching in the Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area of central Florida provides ideal habitat for Osceola turkeys and other wildlife.

The National Wild Turkey Federation and the Missouri Department of Conservation teamed up  to improve and increase open lands and wild turkey brood habitat at the Truman Reservoir, an area experiencing low hatch rates.

Project includes planting warm season grasses and pollinator species on the Landis Sewage Authority, Quail Restoration Area.

The NWTF Double Eagle chapter secured a Bayer Feed a Bee Grant to develop five acres of pollinator habitat and stage an educational JAKES field day.

This 488-acre project was completed in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service through a stewardship agreement signed in 2018.

Conservation work in the Ozarks, including the creation of wildlife openings, continues to benefit wild turkeys and other wildlife

This restored grassland provides increased nesting and brooding cover for Rio Grande wild turkeys and increased foraging through better insect production.

Impact includes 1,800 acres conserved or enhanced, with 29,000 acres positively influenced in the Florida panhandle.

The Souris River Basin Longbeards chapter in North Dakota started its successful tree-planting program almost 15 years ago.

The project will result in improved management of 2,500 acres of Delaware State Forest and 12,471 acres of state game lands.

The “Fire on the Forty” program is an endeavor to promote use of prescribed fire across Mississippi through educational outreach and cost-sharing with private landowners.

This is an excerpt from the revised report “Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems” authored by the USDA Forest Service, Research and Development Southern Research Station in August 2012, revised 2015 and 2018.

Prescribed fire, timber stand improvement and mechanical removal of invasive species around openings was integrated across the Stearns District of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

A 750-acre project to regenerate oaks on the Whitewater WMA and Doer Forest.

NWTF Super Funds in Kansas have been provided to support prescribed burning on both private and public lands to improve many acres of wildlife habitat by controlling undesirable woody species and improving grass and forb species.

The Darby Ranger District is hand-thinning timber and using prescribed fire on 645 acres of the Como Horselick Project to reduce fuel loads and restore historic ponderosa pine savannah.

A multi-year partnership between the NWTF and the Tennessee Division of Forestry is helping to replenish wildlife habitat.

Improvements include opening the forest canopy, reducing tree density and promoting increased tender, understory forage for feeding and nesting habitat.  

In partnership with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, the NWTF created two water wells for wildlife in the Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area.

Stewardship project on the George Washington National Forest along the Cowpasture River in Bath County, Virginia.

Missouri’s New Hunter Recruitment Dove Field Initiative is a cooperative effort between the NWTF, Quail Forever, the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the Missouri Prairie Foundation and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

This project recently enhanced 205 acres of oak forests, oak savannas and wildlife openings across southwest Michigan.

The NWTF collaborated with the USDA Forest Service and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on the Frenchtown Face Project – a project just west of Missoula, Montana, focused on prescribed burning and thinning ground cover in the Lolo National Forest to help wildlife and improve habitat.

Through a Fiscal Year 2019 Oklahoma NWTF Super Fund grant to the Oklahoma Prescribed Burn Association, equip local prescribed burning associations to enable prescribed burning operations on private lands throughout focal landscapes in in south central, north central and northeastern counties.

Beginning in 2019, this harrow work will annually encompass between 1,000 to 1,500 acres.

NWTF partnerships are improving riparian zones on public lands in Missouri, Illinois.

Establishing a diverse age of trees across the forest’s Ironton District.

Thinning timber and harvesting less-desirable hardwood species allowed for more beneficial wildlife species such as walnut, oaks and beech.

Tools and techniques include hand-felling with chainsaws, lopping and scattering, girdling and mechanical piling to remove ponderosa pine and spruce from within and around aspen, birch and bur oak stands in the Sugarloaf project area.

This projected impacted 700 acres, improving crucial habitat for wild turkey, mountain quail and the Pacific deer herd.

The NWTF has contributed $22,000 and helped open access to more than 437 acres.

The NWTF’s Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative is now focused on maintaining those healthy, sustainable and huntable wild turkey populations for generations to come. An important part of doing that is active habitat management, which includes the use of prescribed burning or prescribed fire.

This project focuses on protecting streamside management zones for water quality, soil stability and improved habitat.

The NWTF has found a unique way to support their continued R3 efforts in Georgia. Lynn Lewis, NWTF conservation field manager, certified wildlife biologist and a steering committee member of the Georgia R3 Initiative, plans and hosts the annual steering committee meeting.

With budget constraints, sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands has become a challenge. Using partnerships, such as the one with the NWTF, the work is being completed.

Completing even small-scale projects can have a positive impact on wild turkey populations while benefiting other wildlife in the process.

Economical pest management practices are helping control nonnative, invasive plants such as tamarisk and Russian knapweed, as well as to re-establish native plants in the historic floodplain.

“By mentoring friends, not only do they get the Learn to Hunt experience, but they also may have a future hunting partner for years to come,” she said of the program’s young mentors.

Through a special program organized by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the NWTF is helping open hunting access on private and public lands in Wyoming.

John D. Burk, NWTF district biologist for Missouri and Illinois, said the NWTF and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have worked to re-establish open woodland areas at Siloam Springs State Park in Adams and Brown counties and Hidden Springs State Park in Shelby County.

Using prescribed fire during dormant and growing seasons to improve nesting and brood-rearing habitat.

Habitat restoration of desirable foraging, brood rearing and escape cover for wild turkeys, poults and bobwhite quail chicks.

The NWTF works to restore historical prairie grassland habitat.

Overstocked forest thinning restores healthy conditions in the Shawnee Hills.

The NWTF’s 42nd annual Convention and Sport Show’s Conservation Conference brought together nongovernmental organizations, government partners, private companies and more interested in helping to preserve our nation’s precious wildlife.

Upland habitat restoration, native grass restoration, tree and shrub establishment and excluding livestock from use of critical areas

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is a four- year agreement with the Wildlife Management Institute to assist landowners in creating diverse habitat

In this project, prescribed burning is being used to enhance diverse native grass stands and forbs that provide brood-rearing and nesting habitat for healthy longleaf pine ecosystems.

New stands of oak-hickory, oak and mixed shortleaf pine-oak habitats are growing, thanks to timber thinning and mechanical treatments.

To combat a downtick in wild turkey numbers, the NWTF and partners work to restore parts of America’s Colonial Forests habitat

A new exhibit at the Allegany State Park Administration Building Museum commemorates the park’s role in trapping and transferring wild turkeys to other areas within New York and other Northeastern states.

Timber harvest and chemical treatments of invasive buckthorn, red cedar and honeysuckle is under way.

A cooperative forester position was developed in 2013 to work with partners in Wyoming’s Black Hills to improve forest health on private lands

The focal area for this project is the Eastern New York/Western New England area

The grant will improve wildlife habitat, areas for public recreation, hunting and provide for the conservation of endangered species

More than 460 acres of longleaf pine were restored in this project

Eastern turkeys will thrive in this open woodland and savannahs with this healthy plant life.

On this project, the removal of invasive Eastern red cedar was accomplished through mechanical means and herbicides.

The Son Stewardship Project near Prineville, Oregon, is a five-year agreement between the Ochoco National Forest and NWTF.

More than 45,000 acres in and around the Osceola focal landscape within central Florida have been treated with prescribed fire and herbicide over the last two years

Controlled burning on 290 acres in Pennsylvania’s Sproul State Forest aims to address mature scrub oak, which last burned during a 1970 wildfire

NWTF provides prescribed burn plans to local landowners interested in using fire to burn grasslands or timber in central Illinois

Developing safe fire breaks and creating small openings in timber, planting of shortleaf pine and using controlled burns minimize the long-term effects of devastating wildfires in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest and the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area

The 5,000-acre Pinaleño Ecosystem Restoration Project includes about 3,300 acres of timber harvest

Effort protects remaining green islands of pines following catastrophic fires in 2006 and 2012

Work to improve habitat for a variety of wildlife will now be conducted year-round across Colorado thanks to a unique new public-private partnership between Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado State Land Board and the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Three-year agreement between NWTF and NRCS to thin forests and remove exotic plants through timber management and prescribed fire

Despite obstacles and management hurdles, the NWTF’s focus remains in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Nebraska’s Pine Ridge

Establishing young forest habitat on private lands through the Wildlife Management Institute’s four-year Regional Conservation Partnership Program award from the NRCS on private lands in New York

Regenerating older maple and basswood forests to red oak, white oak and bur oak during a three-year project on the Winona, Minnesota, Whitewater WMA and Richard Dorer State Forest

Five-year oak woodland and grassland restoration project to boost populations of Rio Grande wild turkeys, northern bobwhite quail, other grassland birds and white-tailed deer from south-central Oklahoma to southeast Texas

A three-year agreement between the NWTF and NRCS promotes restored, native mixed shortleaf pine and hardwood forests in Florence, Decatur, Moulton and Huntsville, Alabama

Prescribed burning of Montana’s Lolo National Forest is helping game species — wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, elk and mule deer — and nongame animals, such as flammulated owls and pileated woodpeckers

“We can’t do the work that we want to do without state agencies,” explained Ricky. “We’re just a nonprofit so to have a partner like FWC is crucial, it’s critical. We could not even come close to making the impact we do without them.”

One key to successful habitat projects is forging solid partnerships between multiple agencies.

Hunters are the boots-on-the-ground, hands-on conservationists of today

Nearly 50 conservation groups worked to recommend vital conservation-related solutions to the new president and congress.

Partnerships are restoring habitats in the Zuni Mountains.

Impacting more hunters and wildlife through partnerships

Gould’s wild turkeys in the United States were completely wiped out in 1929 but are now restored to huntable populations

At a recent meeting of the NWTF Oklahoma State Chapter’s board of directors, funding was allocated to assist Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation in the acquisition of a nearly 1,400-acre property located in Osage County, Oklahoma.

The NWTF and its conservation partners are working to restore forest openings in Green Mountain National Forest.

Less competition for oaks means more acorns and healthier turkeys.

Wildlife relies on spring box guzzlers during the drought.

Habitat and wildlife can take a beating during times of severe drought and harsh winters in the West. 

Wyoming’s Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area is being rid of invasive species.

Work with the NWTF to improve the land on your property.

Several strategic partners are pooling efforts under a cooperative agreement to work 16 unique projects in the George Washington and Jefferson national forests.

NWTF Houston member Brandon Jacob will hike all 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail to help raise funds for conservation.

The NWTF's habitat work benefits wild turkeys and numerous other species.

Forest openings in the dense woodland benefits multiple rare plants.

A unique upland habitat enhancement project will help curb the decline in cerulean warbler populations.

Pennsylvania to execute projects that provide, create and enhance wildlife habitat.

Cooperative efforts near Bison, South Dakota, by the USDA Forest Service and the NWTF are improving habitat for many animals, including ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, Merriam’s wild turkeys, deer and elk.

Teaming up with state agencies and other conservation groups is one way the NWTF stretches its dollars.

Projects in the Upper Midwest work to restore grasslands destroyed by urban sprawl and development.

Projects in New Mexico and Nebraska help habitat reach its full potential.

The NWTF and its partners focus on dwindling grasslands and savannas across the U.S.

States received multiple benefits from forest thinning.

Teamwork projects on forest health improve habitat for all species in Alabama.

Opening the forest and removing honeysuckle has improved the forest floor in Illinois.

Explore America's Crossroads with us.

The removal of an invasive species leaves more water for native habitats to flourish.

Field edge boarders provide excellent food and cover for wildlife, which is why the NWTF and the USDA is working to keep them.

Habitat work in New York improves the lifestyle of wild turkeys and other wildlife species.

Projects in Florida are underway to improve forest and wildlife habitat while preserving water quality.

Water is the building block for everything. Find out how people can preserve this precious resource.

Folks in Idaho take steps to improve water quality and wildlife habitat.

There's progress on a bill that benefits America's community of sportsmen, and we're happy about it.

Join forces and participate in the longleaf pine restoration initiative.

Out with the invasive, in with the native. Find out why riversides and creek bottoms are booming.

Cover is three-dimensional in the eyes of the wild.

Learn what improvements are being made to the Osceola National Forest.

What’s good for turkeys is good for wildlife.

Habitat management means more turkeys!

Partnerships stretch Super Fund money to make a bigger impact in Florida.

Kentucky and Tennessee acres get critical habitat work.

Partnerships are vital to the success of turning public land into ideal habitat.

Early successional habitat in Louisiana and Mississippi

Turkey populations rev up due to Texas officials.

Find out how the land was then and how it is now thanks to conservation projects.

With six new identified regions of the ecosystem, our conservation issues will be easier to tackle.