Private Landowners Can Create Habitat for the Hatch
As part of the NWTF’s Habitat for the Hatch Initiative, NWTF biologists in southeastern states have compiled an easy-to-digest guide for private landowners seeking to improve nesting and brood-rearing habitat for wild turkeys on their property.
“This guide is a great starting point for private landowners who want to help wild turkeys produce more poults year after year,” said Doug Little, NWTF director of conservation operations for the East. “Any landowner looking to make a difference is always welcomed, even if it is just a 1-acre plot. We also encourage private-landowners to share this document with their consulting foresters or partner agency staff that may be helping them with technical advice or financial assistance programs for their property. This will help make them aware of your interest in the types of habitat that fit the initiative.
The Habitat for the Hatch Private Landowner Guide provides the basics for managing property to improve the quality of nesting and brood-rearing habitat and provides key information to achieve results.
Work under Habitat for the Hatch is currently ongoing across the initiative’s 18-state region on both public and private lands. Private-land work occurs where the NWTF has private lands staff that assist landowners with best management practices on their property and develop management guides tailored to the landowner’s property. Public land work occurs where the NWTF collaborates with state and Federal agency partners to improve state wildlife management areas, state forests, game lands, national forests and other types of public lands.
Between private lands and public lands, the NWTF and its partners seek to improve 1 million acres of quality wild turkey nesting and brood-rearing habitat.
About the National Wild Turkey Federation
Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested over half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted over 23 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested over $9 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. The organization continues to deliver its mission by working across boundaries on a landscape scale through its Four Shared Values: clean and abundant water, healthy forests and wildlife habitat, resilient communities, and robust recreational opportunities. With the help of its dedicated members, partners and staff, the NWTF continues its work to provide Healthy Habitats. and Healthy Harvests. for future generations.