The guest speaker for the October member’s meeting was Jon Joyner. Jon is the Virginia State Chapter President of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). The NWTF, established in 1973, is dedicated to the conservation of wild turkeys, the conservation of habitat and the preservation of the hunting heritage.
Jon’s presentation gave an overview of the three major outreach programs to provide outdoor education and opportunities. In order to get youth involved with the outdoors the NWTF began their JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship) program. The NWTF recognized the need to help people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors by participating in hunting and shooting sports. As a result they established the Wheelin’ Sportsmen program. In order to further expand their outreach efforts they established a formal Women in the Outdoors program. Events offer outdoor activities such as archery, shot gunning and various introduction to hunting classes.
The NWTF is also heavily involved in conservation projects. The NWTF has administered over $1.5 million to conserve or enhance wildlife habitat on public lands in Virginia since 2011. 3,444 acres have been conserved or enhanced in the past 5 years. 2,414 acres of public access has been gained in the last 5 years. The NWTF administers nearly $250,000 annually for habitat work and access through partnerships with the USDA Forest Service and the Virginia Department of Wildlife and Recreation.
For more information about the NWTF you can contact them at (800)THE-NWFT, vanwft.org or nwft.org.