Despite some red tape here and there caused by the pandemic, the NWTF is proud to have conserved or enhanced 436,759 acres of wildlife habitat in 2021, bringing NWTF’s nine-year total to 4,444,680 and over 20 million acres since the organization’s inception in 1973.
The NWTF has taken bold and innovative measures to work with private landowners across the country to enhance their property for wild turkeys and other wildlife.
While the NWTF and many organizations are working to increase access to the country’s public lands, there is an increasingly more incendiary problem keeping Americans from gaining entry to their natural treasures.
Thanks to the National Forestry Initiative and the NWTF-NRCS partnership, foresters like Idaho’s Sarah Johnson are working together with landowners to help create a more suitable forested landscape for wild turkeys and many other wildlife species.
The Northwest Sands Project in Wisconsin is an ongoing, three-year conservation project to increase wildlife habitat on lands where the NWTF and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are also working to engage new hunters and conservationists.
A partnership between the NWTF Idaho State Chapter and Idaho Fish and Game is enhancing wild turkey habitat and engaging volunteers from all spectrums of the community.
From the first research project funded in the 1970s, to the multimillion-acre restoration initiatives going on today, conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage has always been — and always will be — the backbone of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Fire inspired the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative. Water may bring it to fruition. This work to create more fire-resilient forests and improve water quality is improving wild turkey habitat.
For the newly initiated or those interested in experiencing more of this outdoors lifestyle, it’s our job to welcome them in with a message that conveys the NWTF’s conservation mission and explains how hunting plays a role in the big picture.
NWTF has had a long history of partnering with the Forest Service and the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency on the national forest to enhance wildlife habitat and improve access and opportunities for hunters on Cherokee National Forest.
Dr. Bret Collier, an associate professor of wildlife ecology at Louisiana State University, weighs in on how to create better habitat for hens and their young.
Whether you’ve scoured the internet for the best way to get turkeys on your property or if you’re an ardent follower of the NWTF’s conservation mission, you have more than likely come across the phrase “early successional habitat.”
Sweat equity, partnering with equally determined organizations, raising crucial funds, engaging volunteers, revitalizing wild turkey and overall wildlife habitat on a landscape level — these are the pillars of success evident in the ongoing floodplain restoration project in Vermont’s Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Currently, the NWTF is working in conjunction with Platte River Basin Environments, Inc. and numerous organizations and donors to conserve the 2,600-acre Kiowa Creek Ranch.
The NWTF and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have partnered during the last six years to conduct wild turkey population research and open 4,900 acres to turkey hunting.
To inhabit one of the northern-most habitats in the lower 48 and to still be thriving, wild turkeys in Maine must be cold-hardy birds, and indeed they are, but there are other factors at play that allow these rugged wild turkeys to thrive.
Contributing to one’s local wildlife habitat has never been easier — for a small fee, you get an exclusive, state-specific NWTF license plate for your vehicle, and those additional funds help proliferate and manage wild turkey populations and enhance habitat for many other game and nongame species.
While the NWTF is known for its habitat enhancement projects throughout the country for various game and nongame species, the organization also takes pride in providing excellent wildlife habitat on its nearly 1,000-acre Outdoor Education Center.
Rowan Mason, TC Energy, and Roy Van Houten, Davey Tree and Wetlands Services, demonstrated the impact of shared stewardship across energy rights of way during one of Energy for Wildlife sessions at the NWTF National Convention and Sport Show, hosted by NWTF Director of Energy Partnerships Steve Barlow.
The NWTF’s significant contributions to forest and habitat health are far-reaching and diverse, but being listed as one of the top federal timber buyers isn’t one most would think of.
The Gator Gobblers, a local NWTF chapter in Gainesville, Florida, received a $13,000 grant from the Wildlife Foundation of Florida for outreach events and habitat enhancement.
By collaborating with organizations such as the NWTF and Quail Forever, Enable Midstream is dispelling such associations with their increasing presence in habitat and wildlife management.
The NWTF, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada Conservancy and Cal Fire collaborated to improve forest health, wildlife habitat and resiliency to wildfire in east-central California.
Springs and seeps provide open, snow-free areas during the winter months that wildlife use as feeding sites. Seeps occur where ground water flows to the soil surface.
Enhancement of the Central Appalachian Mountains focal landscape habitat is at the core of work NWTF wildlife biologists and partners are incorporating in the Virginias.
Landowners considering property improvements designed to benefit local wildlife often focus on planting fast-growing food plots that can deliver a near-instant draw.
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.
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.
Every hunter knows that the availability of natural mast such as acorns and other nuts is vital to the overall health of the wildlife in any given area.
The restoration efforts at Ramsey Lake State Park also contributed to an increase in forbs, wildflowers and native grasses that will thrive with the added sunlight to the forest floor.
Access to your favorite hunting spot can be as valuable as the gold in Fort Knox. The trails, whether they are large enough for your 4x4 or simple walking trails, have a great importance for the overall usability and value of your property.
In the last decade, concerns have been raised, and a number of studies have been conducted to try to evaluate the impact of treated seed on birds when the seed is eaten.
Donnie Buckland, NWTF’s grasslands and agricultural manager, explained what high grading is and why this practice is a problem for hunters and land managers.
The NWTF partnered with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to improve habitat for Eastern wild turkeys in the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina’s Low Country.
The phrase “cut-back borders” may not be familiar to many NWTF members, but it is a management tool that can provide major benefits for wild turkeys, as well as other game and nongame animals.
The NWTF partnered with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and the Cherokee National Forest to create habitat openings for wildlife across 1,249 acres in the Tellico and Ocoee districts of the Cherokee National Forest. The NWTF provided tractor implements to achieve these openings.
The NWTF partnered with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the USDA Forest Service to enhance oak forest health and savanna habitats on 255 total acres of land across southwestern 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.
We worked closely with other conservation and forestry organizations to build strong recommendations to ensure that the 2018 Farm Bill contains strong conservation and forestry titles that benefit farmers, forest landowners and the outdoor community.
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.
What our volunteers — alongside our partners — are accomplishing is not only imperative for the wild turkey and countless other species but also for the continuation of our hunting heritage.
Pollination is the basis for important wildlife habitats and human food crops, but pollinator species populations (bees, butterflies, birds) are declining.
The NWTF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collaborated on a prescribed burn project at the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge to improve pine and pine-hardwoods habitats.
The work, performed in the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, involved treating 50 acres with herbicide to control advancement by unwanted hardwoods and woody plants in 2017 and the reintroduction of prescribed fire in 2018 on 190 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.
Want to create an eye-catching sight and help wildlife at the same time? Convert that empty field or part of your sprawling lawn into a dazzling wildflower meadow.
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.
Having a professional land manager analyze the vegetation on a property will quickly reveal how prevalent invasive species have become across the landscape.
“But when those three don’t produce, a turkey will feed opportunistically on just about any soft-mast food it can find. Chances are, turkeys will eat anything that looks like a berry.”
“So be aware of your surroundings when walking the edges of a field or when mowing a field, you never know where a hen might be brooding,” Buckland said.
Acorns and other tree mast attract turkeys and other wildlife year-round, especially in early fall as animals build their fat reserves leading up to winter.
Well-managed forests create better habitat for all wildlife. Learn how to improve wild turkey habitat on your property and help make a difference for habitat conservation.
