EDGEFIELD, S.C.—The National Wild Turkey Federation praises the Biden Administration’s recent announcement of a collaborative plan to expand conservation across the nation with a target of conserving a third of all lands and waters by 2030. In a report released by the administration, the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Initiative will be a “locally led campaign to conserve and restore the lands and waters upon which we all depend, and that bind us together as Americans.” The report identifies multiple priority areas that the NWTF provided early feedback on, including:
- Expanding collaborative conservation of fish and wildlife habitats and corridors.
- Increasing access for outdoor recreation.
- Incentivizing and rewarding the voluntary conservation efforts of sportsmen and women, ranchers, farmers and forest owners.
- Creating jobs by investing in restoration and resilience projects and initiatives.
“The NWTF has been very engaged in providing feedback — independently and cooperatively through larger associations — to help guide the administration in creating a conservation vision that is dialogue-driven starting at the local level, includes public and private landowners, and protects the values of our members,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “From the beginning, we have encouraged the inclusion of active forest and habitat management; scientific, state-led management of fish and wildlife; hunting, fishing and trapping as legitimate and essential uses of these lands and waters; as well as ensuring private landowners are sheltered from overreach and included in the conversation.”
In addition to this announcement, this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal for the largest expansion in recent history of hunting and sport fishing opportunities across?2.1 million acres at?90 national wildlife refuges and?on the lands of?one?national fish hatchery.?
“The administration is showing that it is open to collaboration with stakeholders from all sectors, including the hunting and fishing communities, when it comes to restoring the health and resilience of America’s forests and waters,” Humphries said. “Our voices are being heard and our ideas included. That is a promising start.”
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. Since 2012, this 10-year initiative has already eclipsed goals of conserving or enhancing more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruiting or retaining more than 1.5 million hunters and opening access to more than 500,000 acres for hunting and other recreation opportunities. This critical work will continue to impact wildlife habitat and our great outdoors in the final years of the initiative.
