FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

For more information, contact:  James Powell or Jonathan Harling, 803-637-3106.
July 16, 2004

To view photos, http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/press_releases.php?id=11185

 

NWTF Expert Testifies before Senate; Accepts Special USFS Honor
 

   The National Wild Turkey Federation was the only nonprofit conservation organization represented at hearings held before the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation and Rural Revitalization. The subcommittee heard testimonies from eight industry professionals about the Healthy Forest Restoration Act on June 24, 2004 in Washington, D.C.
    Dr. James Earl Kennamer, NWTF senior vice president of conservation programs, was the only representative from a nonprofit conservation organization asked to testify in the three-panel hearing slated as a “Review of Implementation of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.”  Representatives from the logging industry, various government agencies and industry associations were also on hand to testify.   
    Kennamer spoke to the subcommittee about his experience in forest management and answered questions based upon written testimony. The subcommittee asked about stewardship agreements with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and about how quickly forests will benefit from the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. He also answered questions about long-term effects on national forests without proactive management.
    “The exclusion of fire over the past 100 years and the lack of active forest management over the past 20 years has left an estimated 190 million acres of Federal forests and rangelands in the lower 48 states at risk of large scale insect and disease epidemics,” said Kennamer in written testimony.
    “I’m glad to see the USFS and other agencies taking the Healthy Forest Restoration Act very seriously. We believe that forest thinning and prescribed fires through the Healthy Forest Restoration Act will improve the health of our forests, enhance wildlife habitat and protect rural communities,” said Kennamer.
    After testifying, Kennamer traveled across the Potomac and accepted a special USFS Land Stewardship Award at the USFS National Team Leadership Meeting. This is the first time the USFS has honored a nonprofit organization with this type of special award.
    “I accepted this award on behalf of our nearly 525,000 volunteers who have the passion to leave wildlife habitat in our forests better than they found it,” said Kennamer. “We were the first nonprofit conservation organization to tackle a land stewardship program with the Forest Service and they commended us for our proactive approach to managing our national forests.”
    The award was presented in recognition of outstanding partnership innovations in stewardship contracting because of the Federation’s work with the USFS. Stewardship contracting involves private contractors in habitat improvement projects and allows sale of the byproducts from these projects to fund future conservation work.
    Leaders from the USFS office in Washington, D.C. as well regional foresters from all 9 regional offices attended the ceremony.
    “The NWTF stood beside us when it wasn’t fashionable or even easy to be our partners,” said Dale Bosworth, USFS chief. “Once again we are moving in the right direction and want to show how proud we are of the NWTF’s dedication by presenting them with this recognition in land stewardship contracting.”
    For more information on Dr. Kennamer’s testimony or the USFS Land Stewardship Award contact Tina Bevington at 1-800-THE-NWTF or to find out more about the NWTF, visit the web site at www.nwtf.org.

About the NWTF: In 1973 when the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded, there were an estimated 1.3 million wild turkeys and 1.5 million turkey hunters. Thanks to the work of wildlife agencies and the NWTF’s many volunteers and partners, today there are 6.4 million wild turkeys and approximately 2.6 million turkey hunters. Since 1985, more than $186 million NWTF and cooperator dollars have been spent on over 27,000 projects benefiting wild turkeys throughout North America.
    The NWTF is a nearly 525,000 member grassroots, nonprofit organization with members in 50 states and 12 foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.
    For more information on the National Wild Turkey Federation, call (803) 637-3106, check out our web site at www.nwtf.org or e-mail questions to nwtf@nwtf.net.

 

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Copyright © 2004 Pennsylvania Chapter- National Wild Turkey Federation
Last modified: August 13, 2004