NWTF Plants Seeds for Arbor Day Success
EDGEFIELD, S.C. Each year, conservation-minded Americans celebrate National Arbor Day by joining forces on the last Friday in April to plant an estimated 18 million tree seedlings.
However, to improve wildlife habitat and the environment, tree-planting efforts must span much further than Arbor Day celebrations. Through the National Wild Turkey Federation’s initiatives, private landowners and volunteers work year-round to rejuvenate forests by managing habitat and planting trees. During the weeks leading up to and closely following Arbor Day of 2009, the NWTF’s distributions 278,000 seedlings distributed to chapters in the U.S. and Canada.
“The NWTF recognized the need for regional programs that would plant food-bearing shrubs and trees for wildlife, and decided to take action,” said James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., the NWTF’s chief conservation officer. “Through initiatives and our regional habitat programs, the NWTF is meeting the need in big ways.”
The NWTF is meeting the need to improve wildlife habitat nationally through Operation Appleseed in the Northeast, Operation Oak in the Southeast, Operation SOS (Set Out Seedlings) in Midwestern states and Ontario, Operation Big Sky in the northern Great Plains and Operation Heartland in the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River valleys, plus other initiatives to plant longleaf pines, American chestnuts and oak.
Seeds of Success
During the weeks leading up to and closely following Arbor Day of 2009, the NWTF’s distributions include:
169,000 oak seedlings through the Operation Oak Private Landowner Program
70,000 hardwood seedlings to chapters in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin through Operation SOS (Set Out Seedlings)
15,000 hardwood seedlings to chapters in the Midwest through Operation Heartland
15,000 oak seedlings through the Operation Oak Chapter Program
5,000 crabapple seedlings to chapters in the Northeast through Operation Appleseed
4,000 hardwood seedlings to chapters in Canada through Operation SOS Canada
Longleaf Legacy
Though the longleaf pine covered more than 90 million acres of America’s landscape at the time of European colonization, today, longleaf pine forests have been reduced to only 3 million acres nationwide due to pasture and cropland conversion, landowners planting other pine species for timber and the absence of fire, on which longleaf is dependant.
Longleaf pine forests are an important and diverse habitat that is home to 26 federally listed endangered species such as the indigo snake, red-cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise. Longleaf pine can be grown in landscapes that are poor, sandy and well-drained, and are often more suitable for these sites than other species.
To restore the South’s most famous and unique ecosystem - longleaf pine the NWTF and Georgia Pacific have partnered to restore more than 8,500 acres of longleaf pines on both public and private land in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi through a $1.1 million grant from Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
“The value of longleaf pines for both wildlife and timber production is tremendous,” Kennamer said. “It’s a valuable addition to property managed for multiple uses, and would be an excellent tree to plant in your front yard on suitable sites on Arbor Day.”
Project partners also are hosting landowner field days to teach the benefits of planting and managing longleaf pine such as high timber value and quality wildlife habitat. Longleaf pine forests allow prescribed fire to be introduced earlier and more often than other species of pine trees, which reduces the chance for wildfires and maintains grasses and other wildlife friendly plants. Another advantage is that numerous federal and state programs supplement the costs associated with planting and managing longleaf pines.
“With programs designed to help landowners, planting longleaf pine trees is a win-win situation for conservation, hunters, landowners and wildlife,” Kennamer said.
American Chestnuts
Few trees are missed by wildlife more than the American chestnut, which once flourished from Georgia to Maine, but was virtually eliminated by a fungal disease called blight. Because chestnuts were an important food source for deer, wild turkeys and other wildlife, as well as a source of food and lumber for nineteenth century settlers, blight is a serious problem.
“Blight destroyed a beautiful tree, and a major food source for wild turkeys and other wildlife,” said Robert Abernethy, the NWTF’s assistant vice president of agency and outreach programs. “Its reintroduction would benefit everyone, especially wildlife.”
Until recently, restoration of the American chestnut was an unlikely dream. However, The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), with help from organizations such as the NWTF, is breeding American chestnut trees with Chinese chestnut trees using a method called backcrossing to create a chestnut tree that is blight-resistant and able to reclaim its place in American forests. The new tree will be more than 94 percent American chestnut in appearance and form with blight resistance as the only remaining trait of the Chinese chestnut.
NWTF New York State Chapter Working to Restore the American Chestnut
During April of 2009, the NWTF New York State Chapter will work with the American Chestnut Foundation to plant American chestnut trees in 10 to 12 counties in New York that were part of the tree’s original range. The NWTF New York State Chapter has invested $10,555 from the state Super Fund to help the New York State Chapter of TACF breed a blight-resistant American chestnut tree.
“The restoration of the American chestnut tree is a long-term project,” Abernethy said. “It will take many years to develop enough genetic lines to begin restoring chestnuts across the Eastern half of the country.”
The NWTF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the TACF in 2006 to work together for the benefit of American chestnut trees and wildlife by planting blight-resistant trees in orchards to provide a future source of American chestnut trees. The MOU is a continuance of the support that the NWTF has given TACF in the past.
“This partnership continues to benefit wild turkeys and their habitat, along with everyone who believes in wildlife conservation and the preservation of our hunting tradition,” said Kennamer.
Operation Oak
Oak trees provide food and shelter for many animals, but residential urban development, changing land uses and fire suppression has been detrimental to Southeastern hardwood stands.
“A lack of mast-producing trees such as oak can have devastating effects on wildlife,” said Greg Boozer, the NWTF’s Operation Oak coordinator. “The NWTF formed the Operation Oak program to restore oak woodlands, which is a very valuable component to wildlife habitat throughout the Southeast.
Created in 2000, Operation Oak distributes oak seedlings to NWTF chapters whose volunteers plant the seedlings on private and public properties to enhance wildlife habitat. This year, the NWTF already has distributed more than 185,000 seedlings to NWTF chapters and landowners.
“To date, we’ve helped plant more than 627,000 oak seedlings to improve wildlife habitat across the southeast,” Boozer said. “We thank our partners, our sponsors and especially our volunteers for all of their hard work and support. Together, we’re leaving a positive, long-term impact on wildlife for generations to come.”
For more information about the NWTF visit the Web site at www.nwtf.org or call (800) THE-NWTF.
About the NWTF: In 1973, Tom Rodgers founded the National Wild Turkey Federation in Fredericksburg, Va., as a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation and education organization with a mission dedicated to conserving wild turkeys and preserving hunting traditions. Shortly thereafter, Rodgers relocated the NWTF to Edgefield, S.C., where it’s still headquartered today.
At the time NWTF was established, there were only 1.3 million wild turkeys. Today that number stands at more than seven million birds throughout North America, thanks to the efforts of state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members and partners.
Growth and progress define the NWTF as it has expanded from 1,300 members in 1973 to nearly a half million today. With that growth has come impressive strides in wildlife management as the NWTF has forged dynamic partnerships across the country to further its conservation mission. Together, the NWTF’s partners, sponsors and grassroots members have raised and spent more than $286 million upholding hunting traditions and conserving nearly 14 million acres of wildlife habitat.
While wild turkey restoration is nearing completion, the NWTF still has much work to do. Across North America, supporters are working to enhance habitat for wild turkeys and other wildlife while providing hunters with more opportunities and access to public and private land. In addition, NWTF volunteers and partners are introducing youth, women and people with disabilities to the outdoors through special educational events.
If you would like to become a member of Team NWTF, join a committee or start a chapter, please visit our Web site at www.nwtf.org or call us at 800-THE-NWTF.
