Pennsylvania State Chapter NWTF Activities 2003

·        PA State Chapter January Board of Directors Meeting: January 14, 2003 at State College Pennsylvania.

 ·        Pennsylvania State Chapter Awards Banquet held at the Penn Stater in State College, Pennsylvania, January 13, 2003.

 ·        The 26^th Annual State Convention and Sports Show was held on April 6 –7, 2003 at the Hidden Valley Resort in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. 

 ·        April State Board of Directors Meeting: April 8, 2003 at Hidden Valley Resort in Somerset County during the State Convention.

 ·        The Women in the Outdoors Program continues to grow.  In the year 2000 there were 11 events held.  The goal for this year is 20 - 25 events in Pennsylvania with at least 5 events reaching Golden Hen status.  At the present time there are 18 events scheduled.  Currently in Pennsylvania there are 1311 WITO Members with the goal for this year to be 2000 members.  Nationally there are 26,394 members.

·        In the year 2000 there was $415,219.79 deposited in the Pennsylvania Super Fund account.  We spent $393,244.99 on 214 projects in the state.

·        There are currently 70 Local Chapters in Pennsylvania.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter has pledged $10,000.00 over the next 4 years to the NWTF Hunting Heritage Fund.  This money will be used towards the effort of preserving the Second Amendment and our hunting heritage.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter donated $2,000.00 to support the Pennsylvania YHEC program for 2003.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter donated $2,000.00 to the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs for their annual “On Target” Hunting, Trapping Education Course publication.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter donated $750.00 to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Conference held in Carlisle in February 2003.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter donated $25.00 to the Pennsylvania Taxidermist Association for their taxidermy contest, which was held at the Eastern Sports Show.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter will be contributing $10,000.00 per year for the next 3 years in support of the NWTF Northeast turkey biologist.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter 2002 Rendezvous’ and Awards Banquet is going to be held on January 5, 2002 at the Ramada Inn in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

·        The NWTF Technical Committee and the Pennsylvania State Chapter are pleased to announce that Bob Eriksen, from the New Jersey Department of Fish, Game, and Wildlife will be filing the position of NWTF Regional Biologist beginning on May 2, 2003.  He will be helping us to spend our money wisely on turkey related projects across Pennsylvania.

·        102 Super Fund Projects have been funded thus far in 2003.

·        Pennsylvania is currently ranked 2^nd largest state chapter in the nation with over 21,000 members in 70 local chapters.    Illinois State Chapter is first with 28, 000 members and Wisconsin is 3^rd with 18,000 members.

·        The Wild Turkey Research Project in TMA7B fieldwork for the 2.5 year wild turkey research study is continuing, as the research team has just completed their second winter of turkey trapping, fitting transmitters on hens, and releasing at the trapping site.

·        Currently the Wild Turkey Research Team in TMA7B are monitoring 69 hens.  Sixteen are juvenile hens and the remaining 53 are adult hens.   They will be monitoring these hens closely during the nesting season

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter donated money to YHEC.  The YHEC National Shoot will be held in New Mexico this year.  The Pennsylvania YHEC Shoot will be held at the Scotia Range on Saturday, June 16, 2003.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter received over 20 tractor-trailer loads of seed for distribution throughout the state.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Bureau of Forestry provided much needed help and assistance with the distribution of the seed through this program.

·        Approximately 32 local chapters, all regions of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and 7 districts of the Bureau of Forestry responded to the seedling program.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter has hired Jeff Muhollem to publish and serve as editor of “Turkey Talk”, our official newsletter publication.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter decided to pursue an organization license plate.  They have submitted the official application to PennDot for a Chapter license plate.  The NWTF flying turkey logo will be used on the license plate.  To sign-up check out the latest issue of “Turkey Talk”.

·        Pennsylvania State Board of Directors Meeting: Saturday, June 2, 2003 at the Moshannon State Forest District Office.  The Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, June 1, 2003 in Clearfield County.

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter is represented on the Pennsylvania Sportsmen’s Coalition, the Pennsylvania Habitat Alliance, the Pennsylvania Conservation Alliance, and the Governor’s Sportsmen’s Advisory Council.

·        Pennsylvania State Chapter Habitat Super Fund Committee pledged over $220,000 for habitat projects across Pennsylvania during spring 2003.

·        Pennsylvania State Chapter participated in the PGC Game Lands Tours during 2003.

·       Pennsylvania State Chapter participated in the PGC Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations publication by designing two pages of information about the State Chapter.  This year the PGC has developed a new center section for 2003-2002 Hunting and Trapping Annual.  Check out section on Turkeys - Population and Harvest Trends. 

·        The Pennsylvania State Chapter provided a grant in the amount of $5,000 to the Outdoor Heritage program, scheduled for May 3 - 5, 2003 in Huntingdon County,  provided an information booth, and set-up the DART System

·        The Pennsylvania Game Commission has developed on their web site a Wild Turkey site link.   Check out the PGC web site, click on Wildlife,  click on Wild Turkey.     http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC/turkey/index.htm 

·        Continue to check out the Pennsylvania State Chapter web site for additional information on the activities and events of the Pennsylvania State Chapter, and additional information on wild turkeys in Pennsylvania,

http://www.go2pa.com/panwtf/

·        and the National Wild Turkey Federation web site for information about wild turkeys across the United States, Canada, and Mexico,

 http://www.nwtf.org/