NWTF work up north
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Photo by NWTF |
Federation-initiated wildlife enhancement projects create and preserve prime publicland turkey hunting and habitat in New York and Ohio.
In recent years, the NWTF and its partners have been working hard on habitat enhancement projects that have dramatically improved the turkey hunting opportunities in some expected and unexpected places.
New York gone gobbler wild
Undoubtedly, 20 years ago you would have been laughed right out of town talking about going turkey hunting anywhere near the Big Apple. However, on Nov. 21, 2009, New York hosted its inaugural turkey season on Long Island, a historic event that enabled hunters to harvest about 100 turkeys during the five-day fall season in Suffolk County. At one time, it was practically impossible to hear the echoing gobble of a longbeard within the borders of such a populated place, but now the wild turkey population is estimated at more than 3,000 birds.
Efforts of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the NWTF made this historic season possible. About 18 years ago, the DEC live trapped 79 wild turkeys in upstate New York and released them in three locations inside Suffolk County. Since then, volunteers and staff members from both the NWTF and DEC worked diligently to improve and maintain suitable turkey habitat in the region.
"This year is the New York State Chapter's 35th anniversary, and its members have accomplished some amazing things," said Doug Little, NWTF regional biologist for New York. "For example, they have raised and spent more than $1.7 million in Super Fund project dollars since 1985. In addition, the chapter will spend more than $130,000 in Super Fund money on conservation, research, land acquisition and outreach programs in 2010 alone. Currently, there are also three major annual seed programs the chapter uses to provide adequate food sources throughout the year for turkeys and other native wildlife species. It's scary to think about where the wild turkey would be today without the NWTF and its volunteers."
Ohio's 12-county improvement projects
The NWTF teamed up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service on projects that span 12 counties in the southeastern part of the Buckeye State. While much of the work is taking place inside Wayne National Forest, the goal is to improve habitat throughout the region by planting for wildlife, thinning timber and eradicating nonnative plants. The array of projects will benefit all native wildlife species immediately and in the future.
According to NWTF Biologist Randy Showalter, the work also will have major impact on the region's wild turkey population.
"We are trying to enhance brood-rearing habitat and provide turkeys with adequate and consistent food sources," Showalter said. "This area has a good number of openings and fields that are currently dominated by fescue, which is not very beneficial for wildlife. One of our goals is to eradicate the fescue and replace it with plantings that will provide both food and useable cover. In the end, our work here will ultimately help conserve, maintain and improve prime wildlife habitat across southeastern Ohio."
Sum of more than it's parts
Without question, projects like these clearly show how dedication, hard work and dynamic partnerships make a difference. Over the years, the NWTF has worked with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies to help successfully restore wild turkey populations across the country — even in the most unlikely places.
In addition, Federation partners and volunteers have raised and spent more then $306 million dollars for a multitude of wildlife improvement projects and has conserved nearly 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife. — Travis Faulkner