Wild Turkey Restoration: Cluck, Purr, Gooble
I love it when a plan comes together especially when the plan is restoring habitat. Wild turkey should be the poster child of game for successful game restoration. This week while commuting to work on the Shore Line East train, I noticed a handsome tom puffed out and strutting not far from Route 95. If you are unfamiliar will this stretch of road count yourself as darn lucky. It is one of the busiest corridors of traffic on the east coast, making a line from Boston to New York. But that tom was convinced an admiring hen was nearby. When I hear that the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) relocated 1,958 wild turkeys last year to 14 states and one Canadian province, I know there are organizations, state and federal agencies that are really making a difference. A total of 69 Gould's, 393 Merriam's, 1,355 Rio Grandes and 141 Eastern wild turkeys were released. It is hard to believe but wild turkeys were nearly nonexistent in the early 20th century. Today, the population is about 7 million; their numbers have doubled since 1990. Most birds are trapped and relocated. Wondering if your state or province has been re-gentrified with wild turkey, read on:
- Alberta: 39 Merriam's were moved from the Lees Lake area near Pincher Creek to a site on private land near Turner Valley, which is close to Wildlife Management Unit 406.
- Arizona: 69 Gould's were transferred to southeastern Arizona's Pinaleà Mountains and Galiuro Wilderness Area to the Galiuro Wilderness Area and Chiricahua Mountains; 34 Merriam's were transferred within Yavapai County; 85
- Arkansas: 46 Eastern wild turkeys were captured and moved in-state.
- California: 193 Rios were trapped in suburban areas and moved to sites with existing turkey populations like the Knoxville Wildlife Area in Napa County.
- Colorado: 67 Merriam's and 26 Rios were moved within the state.
- Idaho: 156 Merriam's were trapped in the Panhandle region and 23 Merriam's trapped in southwest were sent to the Cecil Andrus WMA in Washington County.
- Maine: 47 Eastern birds were trapped and transferred in-state to Machiasport, Ashland and Butler Island Wildlife Management Area.
- Maryland: 22 Eastern wild turkeys were moved to Cecil County.
- Minnesota: 26 Easterns were trapped in Wisconsin transported to northwestern Minnesota near Erskine.
- Mississippi: 127 Eastern wild turkeys were captured in-state and released in Coahoma and Quitman counties in the Mississippi River Delta region.
- Montana: 89 Merriam's were transferred to sites in Blaine County, Havre and the Choteu County areas.
- Nevada: 59 Rios from California were released in Carson Valley, Douglas County.
- New Mexico: 12 Merriam's were moved within New Mexico from the Sacramento Mountains to Guadalupe Mountain in Lincoln National Forest.
- Oregon: 273 birds were trapped and released in-state.
- South Dakota: 65 Merriam's were trapped and released in the northern Black Hills region in Lawrence and Pennington Counties.
- Tennessee: 41 Eastern turkeys were moved within the state to Rutherford County, Meigs County and northeastern Montgomery County.
- Texas: 19 Rios were moved from Concho County to Brownsville in Cameron County.
- Utah: 700 turkeys were moved to unoccupied habitat.
- Rios from Utah were released on Game Management Unit 13B in northwestern Mohave County.
