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| Wild turkey renaissance: Making a comeback (Fall 2007) |
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By Dale McDonald
Before the first European settlers
landed on America's eastern coast,
there was a robust population of
some 7 to 10 million wild turkeys
across the country. By the early
1900s, aggressive, unregulated
market hunting, coupled with a
dramatic loss of natural habitat, had reduced
those numbers to only 30,000. Indeed, wild
turkeys were on their way out.
These tales almost never have a happy
ending, but in the case of the wild turkey, we
are witness to one of the greatest success stories
in the history of conservation and wildlife
restoration. Dedication and sacrifice, by tens
of thousands of people who just plain cared,
have brought the wild turkey back. Completely
back, with an estimated turkey population
now numbering over 7 million.
Passion.
Restoration efforts first took some
baby steps during the 1950s, but it wasn't
until the National Wild Turkey Federation
was formed in 1973 that success began to
pile on success. Started by a group of hunters
in South Carolina, NWTF membership has
grown to more than 500,000.
"We are a nonprofit conservation and education
organization," says spokesman Jonathan
Harling, "and we have raised more
than $230 million to improve habitat on over
11 million acres across the country."
From its inception, the NWTF has focused
on working hand-in-hand with any agency or
individual who wants to revive turkey populations.
A good example of this cooperation is
its current "Go for the Gould's" project in Arizona.
The Gould's subspecies once thrived in
the state, but unregulated hunting destroyed
the population. So the NWTF teamed up with
concerned parties, and since 2003 some 320
turkeys have been trapped in Mexico and
moved into the Chiricahua, Huachuca, and
Pinaleno mountains in southern Arizona.
Partners.
It's an impressive list of cooperators.
On the U.S. side of the border, project
partners include the NWTF's Arizona state
chapter, the El Coronado Ranch, the U.S.
Forest Service, the Coronado National Forest,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
In Mexico, partners include the Secretary
of Natural Resources, the Association of
Wildlife Managers, the Wingshooters Lodge,
the Senoran Outfitters Association, the Monte
Escobedo Ranch, and Rancho Antrialgo.
While that's a good example of the NWTF's
reach, much of what they do is grassroots
habitat improvement.
"Habitat improvement is the foundation of
any conservation effort," Harling says, "and
we tailor programs by region. For example, in
New England we provide apple-tree seedlings so turkeys will have a good source of food
during the winter months, and we provide
berry seedlings in the Midwest and Ontario.
In the West, water is the limiting factor, so we
provide guzzlers - water catchment basins -
so the birds can find a place for a drink."
Innovation.
Successful projects often take
creative thinking, and the NWTF's project in
east Texas is a good example. For years, wildlife
agencies had tried to transplant the Rio
Grande species from west Texas to the east,
but those desert birds just did not get established.
They needed the eastern subspecies
that had been native to the area.
The problem is that wildlife can't be sold,
so what usually happens is that states will
make trades. For example, Louisiana once
sent river otters to Missouri, and in exchange
Missouri delivered turkeys to Louisiana. But
at the time, Texas just didn't have what other states wanted, and couldn't make a deal.
"At that point we stepped in," says Robert
Abernethy, Director of Agency Programs,
"and proposed that money could be considered
a universal trade. Then we asked the
southeastern states to determine how much
it cost to catch a turkey. They said $500. So
we began paying states a 'replacement cost.'"
Funding was the next step, so the
NWTF worked with Texas to implement
a turkey stamp paid for by hunters.
In addition, local NWTF chapters
held a variety of fund-raising events.
In 1986, the first group of eastern
subspecies transplants included 15
birds from Georgia. Then birds arrived from
South Carolina, Connecticut, Iowa, and Missouri.
Between 1986 and 2007 more than
10,000 turkeys were relocated to east Texas.
"It's a great success story," Abernethy
says, "and it's not over yet. In some areas they didn't take, and we don’t know if it's from
poor reproduction, inadequate habitat, predators,
or even poaching. So we are going back
to each of those areas and dropping in 40 turkeys
fitted with radio transmitters. If we can
figure out what's wrong, we'll try to fix it."
Mystique. Perhaps even more interesting
than the restoration itself, is the "why" behind
it. What is it about the wild turkey that
mobilized over half a million people?
Abernethy says there are a couple of factors.
"First, it's a very historic bird. Turkeys
and whitetail deer are what fed our ancestors.
And anyone who hunts knows how unique
turkeys are. You are out there at dawn, trying
to call the turkey to you. You are literally trying
to influence its behavior and it’s really a
thrill. When you first arrive in the woods it's
dark, it's dead silent, and I’m telling you, that
first gobble flat-out rocks the forest."
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