NWTF Conservation efforts

The National Wild Turkey Federation, not unlike Ducks Unlimited and other conservation organizations, cherishes their work. Mark Hatfield is the national director of conservation services for NWTF, and I asked him an obvious question. As a national organization with a fabulous species to represent, how dedicated are you to conservation efforts? Speaker2: Conservation is something that we pride ourselves on very well. Since 1985, when we instituted our Superfund program, which is where we provide revenue sharing, funding back to the states, and then they can allocate that funding into the mission of the organization. But since 1985, we have conserved or enhanced over 20 million acres of habitat for the wild turkey. And to put that in perspective, state of South Carolina is about 19 million acres since 1985. We've impacted and improved over 20 million acres. And since just ten years ago, when we started our Save the Habitat Save the Hunt initiative, we have improved, conserved or enhanced nearly four and a half million acres. We've opened up nearly 700,000 acres of access to public recreation opportunities, and we've helped recruit, retain and reactivate over 1.5 million hunters. So conservation is what we were on our sleeve and it's what we do. And so I'd say that our intertwined mission of conservation and hunting, we're fully 100% invested in that process and that's where our resources go. Speaker1: Website NWTF.org.