Latest news with #NWTF
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Trees to be cut down, roads retired in Michaux State Forest project
The National Wild Turkey Federation, American Bird Conservancy, and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry are collaborating on a project to enhance the habitat within Michaux State Forest, according to an announcement. The project aims to create a mosaic of habitats benefiting wild turkeys and other wildlife species, many of which are classified as species of great conservation concern. More than 1,000 acres of the southern Pennsylvania state forest are being monitored for management work set to begin this summer. Foresters plan to use various techniques, including non-commercial tree felling, forestry mulching, planting ecologically valuable trees, shrubs and forbs, and cut-and-leave treatment of trees that have died due to disease or insect infestation. These managed acres will contribute to the 100,000 acres of land conserved under the NWTF's Forests and Flocks Initiative. Foresters plan to cut down more than 1,000 trees across the 205-acre project footprint. Strategically placing woody material directly into or near streams will improve habitat, enhance water quality, support diverse ecosystems and enhance forest composition and structural diversity at all vegetation layers. Trees will be strategically removed to create stream canopy gaps and increase downed woody materials along three miles of streams and adjacent forests. This increased structure in and around the stream will help reconnect the water table with the floodplain, slow down water velocity during high flow events, reduce erosive potential and improve water filtration and recharge through increased retention time within the watershed. Managers also plan to retire about three miles of poorly placed redundant road segments, which negatively impact streams and stream-side forests. The roads will be repurposed as shared-use trails and firebreaks, designed to prevent or slow the spread of wildfires and control prescribed burns. This project will increase the efficiency, predictability and safety of implementing prescribed fire and other managed disturbance regimes to sustain dynamic habitats at the upper tributary system level. The American Bird Conservancy, the project's grantee, is working in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program and South Mountain Partnership Conservation Network to advance all five of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (WILD) program pillars. The Pennsylvania NWTF State Chapter committed significant funds to the project via the state chapter's Super Fund. Created in the NWTF's formative years, the Super Fund is a volunteer-driven program. NWTF volunteers in every state raise money at banquets and other types of fundraisers and then allocate a significant portion of those funds back into meaningful conservation and outreach projects in their respective states. The project will directly benefit wild turkeys by creating early successional habitat. Indirectly, the project will improve ecosystem conditions for all species by increasing species and structural diversity on a landscape level, resulting in a healthier forest and a greater quantity and quality of nesting and brood-rearing habitat for wild turkeys. The Public Opinion, The Record Herald, Echo-Pilot are growing their local news 'The NFWF project on the Michaux is a continuation of the great restoration work that has occurred on the South Mountain ridge-tops,' said Mitch Blake, NWTF district biologist. 'A fire-adapted landscape, long excluded from fire, is now being restored acre by acre through landscape-scale disturbance. It's great to see the habitats for species of the greatest conservation concern being addressed as well as upper tributary water quality concerns. This project is really the epitome of a landscape scale forest health collaborative.' Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested more than half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted more than 24 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested more than $10 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on Waynesboro Record Herald: NWTF, partners to enhance habitat in Michaux State Forest
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Trees to be cut down, roads retired in Michaux State Forest project
The National Wild Turkey Federation, American Bird Conservancy, and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry are collaborating on a project to enhance the habitat within Michaux State Forest, according to an announcement. The project aims to create a mosaic of habitats benefiting wild turkeys and other wildlife species, many of which are classified as species of great conservation concern. More than 1,000 acres of the southern Pennsylvania state forest are being monitored for management work set to begin this summer. Foresters plan to use various techniques, including non-commercial tree felling, forestry mulching, planting ecologically valuable trees, shrubs and forbs, and cut-and-leave treatment of trees that have died due to disease or insect infestation. These managed acres will contribute to the 100,000 acres of land conserved under the NWTF's Forests and Flocks Initiative. Foresters plan to cut down more than 1,000 trees across the 205-acre project footprint. Strategically placing woody material directly into or near streams will improve habitat, enhance water quality, support diverse ecosystems and enhance forest composition and structural diversity at all vegetation layers. Trees will be strategically removed to create stream canopy gaps and increase downed woody materials along three miles of streams and adjacent forests. This increased structure in and around the stream will help reconnect the water table with the floodplain, slow down water velocity during high flow events, reduce erosive potential and improve water filtration and recharge through increased retention time within the watershed. Managers also plan to retire about three miles of poorly placed redundant road segments, which negatively impact streams and stream-side forests. The roads will be repurposed as shared-use trails and firebreaks, designed to prevent or slow the spread of wildfires and control prescribed burns. This project will increase the efficiency, predictability and safety of implementing prescribed fire and other managed disturbance regimes to sustain dynamic habitats at the upper tributary system level. The American Bird Conservancy, the project's grantee, is working in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program and South Mountain Partnership Conservation Network to advance all five of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (WILD) program pillars. The Pennsylvania NWTF State Chapter committed significant funds to the project via the state chapter's Super Fund. Created in the NWTF's formative years, the Super Fund is a volunteer-driven program. NWTF volunteers in every state raise money at banquets and other types of fundraisers and then allocate a significant portion of those funds back into meaningful conservation and outreach projects in their respective states. The project will directly benefit wild turkeys by creating early successional habitat. Indirectly, the project will improve ecosystem conditions for all species by increasing species and structural diversity on a landscape level, resulting in a healthier forest and a greater quantity and quality of nesting and brood-rearing habitat for wild turkeys. The Public Opinion, The Record Herald, Echo-Pilot are growing their local news 'The NFWF project on the Michaux is a continuation of the great restoration work that has occurred on the South Mountain ridge-tops,' said Mitch Blake, NWTF district biologist. 'A fire-adapted landscape, long excluded from fire, is now being restored acre by acre through landscape-scale disturbance. It's great to see the habitats for species of the greatest conservation concern being addressed as well as upper tributary water quality concerns. This project is really the epitome of a landscape scale forest health collaborative.' Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested more than half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted more than 24 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested more than $10 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on Waynesboro Record Herald: NWTF, partners to enhance habitat in Michaux State Forest
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Yahoo
Nonprofit offering rewards for information on West Virginia turkey poachers
SOUTH CHARLESTON, (WBOY) — The West Virginia chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is offering rewards for information on poachers in the state. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) said over the weekend that the nonprofit will give rewards to people who provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of turkey poachers in West Virginia. West Virginia is in spring turkey season until May 25, but any killing or capture of wild animals not within the scope of legal hunting is considered poaching. For turkeys in West Virginia, the fine for poaching is $250 per bird, according to West Virginia Code. To legally hunt turkeys, West Virginia hunters must have a valid hunting license, hunt on approved land, adhere to the bag limits and properly field tag their harvest. Wild deer named Bucky who visits bar and homes investigated by West Virginia DNR It is illegal to use bait, use electronic calls or hunt with dogs when hunting turkey. Anyone who illegally kills or sells a wild turkey, or any other wildlife, will have six point added to their hunting license. If a hunter gathers 10 points, their license will be revoked. Although the NWTF does not provide any additional details about rewards related to information about poachers, according to the 2024-2025 Hunting Regulations for West Virginia, the reward for information leading to a conviction is $200. 'If you see something suspicious, contact your WVDNR district office or send us a message through our Facebook page. For crimes in progress, call 911,' the WVDNR said. Tips can also be made to the WVDNR online here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outdoors: Briefs
NSSF applauds Trump Executive Order National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Firearm Industry Trade Association, stronglyapplauds President Donald Trump for his Executive Order announcing that his WhiteHouse believes not only that the Second Amendment should be protected for all law-abiding Americans, but that once again this sacred Constitutional right will be Trump's Executive Order makes clear that his stated promises throughout thecampaign to all Americans will be kept and his word honored. 'For the past four years, the previous president and his administration attacked law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry at every opportunity, crippling smallbusinesses and turning law-abiding Americans into criminals overnight, all whiletrampling on Constitutional rights and ignoring laws passed by Congress,' NSSF seniorvice-president Lawrence Kane said. 'No more – gone are those days. President Trump'swelcomed Executive Order means those exercising their rights to keep and bear arms willbe able to continue protecting their loved ones, homes and property and do so knowingthe President of the United States has their back.' PGC turkey biologist is ETO guest Pennsylvania Game Commission turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena is the guest ofRepublican Herald outdoors editor Doyle Dietz on the Sunday, Feb. 16, edition of'Experience The Outdoors,' winner of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Associationand Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association awards for best outdoors radio times are: 7-7:30 a.m., AM 1410 WLSH; 8-8:30 a.m., Sunny 1100 WGPA; 9-9:30a.m., Magic 105.5-FM.; and downloaded on Banquets Jeff Post Memorial Chapter NWTF: Saturday, March 8, Community Fire Company,Landingville; 4 p.m. doors open, 5:30 p.m. dinner; information and registration . Lykens Valley Longbeards Chapter NWTF: Saturday, March 22, MillersburgAmerican Legion; 4 p.m. doors open, 5:30 p.m. dinner; information and registration . Education Pennsylvania Game Commission Hunter-Trapper Education Course for all first-timehunters, age 12 and older, Stein's Hollow Beagle Club, Saturday, April 12, 8 a.m. to 3p.m.,; register online at . Pennsylvania Game Commission Hunter-Trapper Education Course for all first-timehunters, age 12 and older, is available online and for future schedules and registration forin-person classes go to . Fishing Rabbit Run Kids Derby: Saturday, April 12, 8 a.m., includes hourly prize, trophies forlargest trout for a boy and a girl and a trophy for first limit for a boy and girl. Rabbit Run Button Day: Sunday, April 13, 7 a.m., cash prizes of $300 for heavieststringer of trout, $200 for second heaviest stringer and $100 for third heaviest stringer. Hikes Suess Speaks for the Trees: Sunday, March 2, 2-3 p.m., Sweet Arrow Lake Clubhouse;1-2 miles, easy on gravel and dirt terrain; pet friendly; for information contact 'HemlockHanna' Kulbitsky at hkulbitsky@ or 272-208-0406. Turn Em Back and Turn up to Tuscarora: Sunday, March 9, noon-2 p.m., TuscaroraState Park, Barnesville; moderately difficult 3-4 miles on varying terrain and slopes ofstone, dirt, and roots; for information contact 'Hemlock Hanna' Kulbitsky athkulbitsky@ or 272-208-0406. Shoots West Penn Archery Club Saturday Night League, shoots are held Saturday's at theclub, 147 Archery Club Road, New Ringgold. Shows Eastern Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation Hunting and Outdoor Expo: Fridayand Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23, Lancaster County Convention Center; for information call(717) 588-4190 or visit . Today's events Philadelphia Fishing Show: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Greater Philadelphia Expo Center atOaks, 100 Station Ave., Oaks; for information go to . USA International Sportsmen's Show: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monroeville ConventionCenter, Monroeville; for information call 724-863-4577 or go . This week's events Thursday: Trap, 5-6 p.m., youth; 6-9 p.m., adult, Orwigsburg Gun Club, Gun ClubRoad, off Route 443 East, Orwigsburg; email grsmmyminch@ for information. — Compiled by Doyle Dietz
