Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund Awards $300K Grant to The National Wild Turkey Federation
Landmark grant to provide support for priority NWTF local and national projects, including the Western Shared Stewardship Initiative
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund is proud to announce it has awarded a $300,000 grant to the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) to benefit priority local and national conservation projects including the Western Shared Stewardship Initiative, a unique partnership set to address urgent wildlife habitat needs, wildfire challenges and watershed improvements in the western United States. The landmark grant, enabled by noted conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris and generous Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s customers who round up purchases in stores and online to the Outdoor Fund, is a gamechanger for the NWTF’s critical conservation needs in 2021.
“I want to give Johnny and his entire team, as well as Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s customers who support the Outdoor Fund, a resounding thank you for their continual support the advancement of our outdoors lifestyle,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “Our partnership with Bass Pro and Cabela’s is the result of two organizations dedicated to conserving our nation’s natural resources and preserving our hunting heritage. Contributions from the Outdoor Fund will continue to drive the NWTF mission to unprecedented heights and expand our past successes even further.”
Like the NWTF, the Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The Outdoor Fund encourages more than 200 million Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s customers to round up purchases to support conservation partners and projects that connect new audiences to the outdoors, protect and conserve wildlife habitat across America and advocate for sportsmen’s rights and the outdoors, a mission that closely aligns with the NWTF’s.
Support from the Outdoor Fund will allow the NWTF to continue investing resources at a local project level and at a national initiative level alike, delivering its Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. mission through an all-encompassing scope — from planting the smallest food plot to impacting multimillion-acre initiatives, and everything and everywhere in between.
Additionally, the proceeds from the Outdoor Fund will facilitate the NWTF’s recently broadened conservation delivery throughout the country, especially in the West. The NWTF has been foundational in many of the landscape-level initiatives spawned as a result of increased wildfire and the alarming rate of forest health and watershed degradation, exacerbated from climate conditions and a lack of proper forest management.
“For our beloved wild turkey, for the safety of local communities and economies, for clean water and everything in between, we are challenging ourselves to increase the scope of our conservation delivery,” Humphries said. “We must stand behind science-based forest management and hunters’ rights and work collaboratively in innovative ways to ensure future generations get to enjoy our country’s natural resources as we do. Funding from the Outdoor Fund will accelerate our delivery.”
The NWTF was previously awarded funding through the Outdoor Fund, on multiple occasions, that was ultimately leveraged with landowners, private industry collaborators, partners and state and federal agencies at a minimum of a 6-to-1 dollar ratio. Prior funding from the Outdoor Fund was crucial in helping the NWTF surpass its ambitious, 10-year Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative goals two years ahead of schedule. Last year alone, Outdoor Fund grant monies enabled the NWTF to improve more than 87,000 acres of wildlife habitat and water sources, and directly benefitted wildlife and hunting opportunities across 26 states.
“The National Wild Turkey Federation is one of our longest-running partners and a true ally and leader in conservation,” said noted conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. “We’re grateful to our passionate customers for enabling this grant by rounding up their purchase at our registers. Thanks to their collective generosity, spare change is going to make a tremendous difference for the wildlife and wild places we love for generations to come.”
About the National Wild Turkey Federation
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. Today, the NWTF is focused on the future of hunting and conservation through its Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative – a charge that mobilizes science, fundraising and devoted volunteers to conserve or enhance more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruit at least 1.5 million hunters and open access to 500,000 acres for hunting. For more information, visit NWTF.org.
About Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.”
