NWTF News Release 

Hunters' Habitat Work No Longer Delayed By Environmentalists

WARREN, Pa. - A four-year conservation project, once delayed by a lawsuit from environmentalists, is now two years from completion as Pennsylvania turkey hunters work to improve wildlife habitat in the Allegheny National Forest.

The suit - filed in 2001 to block proposed timber removal - kept organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation and their Pennsylvania State Chapter from coordinating habitat work in the state's only national forest. Three years later, a federal judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service to allow timber removal on 7,600 acres, less than 2 percent of the total 513,000-acre forest.

"Removing timber keeps the forest healthy," said Dennis Daniel, USDA Forest Service national Making Tracks coordinator. "The important thing is how you do it and what you leave behind."

Thinning timber in wooded areas allows plants to flourish under the canopy of trees. These plants attract grasshoppers and other insects, an essential food source for wild turkeys and other wildlife.

"The Pennsylvania State Chapter and the Allegheny National Forest are working to maintain existing wildlife opening and create new openings for wildlife, specifically wild turkeys," said Carl Mowry, former Pennsylvania State Chapter president. "By planting shrubs and cool season grasses and legumes, these openings will serve as optimal brood-rearing habitat for hens and their young poults."

The NWTF's conservation work in Allegheny National Forest is one of 64 habitat enhancement projects funded by the hunting organization's Pennsylvania state chapter. Total funds approved for 2005 projects reach nearly $165,000 dollars, and since 1985, more than $3.5 million has been raised and spent by local chapters on state projects benefiting the wild turkey.

"Most of these projects will be completed on state game lands owned and maintained by the Pennsylvania Game Commission," said Bob Eriksen, an NWTF regional biologist. "Game Commission biologists and land managers are major players in the success of this extensive habitat improvement commitment by the Pennsylvania state chapter. These conservation efforts not only benefit wild turkey habitat, but habitat for all wildlife."

This year alone, the NWTF will directly impact more than 1,400 acres of habitat in 47 Pennsylvania counties. The majority of the projects will be completed on public lands, while five projects are on private lands open to public hunting.

For more information about NWTF habitat projects in Pennsylvania and across the country, contact the NWTF's Wildlife Biologist Bob Eriksen at (908) 454-1882 , for more information about the NWTF, call (800) THE-NWTF, web site  www.nwtf.org  .  For additional information about the Pennsylvania Chapter – NWTF, web site   www.panwtf.com  .