EDGEFIELD, S.C. – The Alabama NWTF State Chapter recently approved $183,613 to 25 projects across the state for the 2024 Fiscal Year, along with a $50,000 commitment to wild turkey research. With collaborative partner funding, the NWTF Alabama’s investment for 2024 will be leveraged to over $1 million, funding wild turkey research and enhancing over 121,000 acres of wildlife habitat from September 2023 to September 2024.
The investment by the Alabama NWTF State Chapter amplifies the organization’s new Habitat for the Hatch Initiative, with 19 new projects in Alabama providing nesting, brood-rearing and foraging habitats critical to wild turkey nest initiation, nest success and brood survival. In addition to the projects in Alabama, the state chapter is allocating $50,000 to Habitat for the Hatch to be used across the initiative’s 18-state region.
“The wild turkey decline doesn’t just affect us in Alabama, it affects all as turkey hunters and turkey enthusiasts,” said Scott Brandon, NWTF Alabama State Chapter president. “Through Habitat for the Hatch, we will put the habitat wild turkeys need on the ground to successfully recruit broods year after year, in Alabama and across the Southeast. We are proud to invest in this new initiative.”
View all of the new NWTF Alabama projects, including a map of project sites, at www.nwtf.org/uploads/2023/09/AL-SF-Projects-FY-23-24.pdf.
“When there is a challenge, the NWTF works to solve it,” said Derek Alkire, NWTF district biologist for Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. “Our volunteers in Alabama are dedicated to ensuring wild turkeys and all of our natural resources will be around for future generations to enjoy. These new projects will directly help increase wild turkey habitat and enhance overall ecological health across the state. We are ready to hit the ground running this fiscal year!”
Each year, the NWTF Alabama State Chapter allocates funds for a variety of conservation and education and outreach events. Funding for these projects is provided through the NWTF Super Fund, a funding model where NWTF volunteers raise money at banquets and other types of fundraisers and then allocate a significant portion of those funds back into meaningful conservation and outreach projects the state board of directors approves.
Additional funds are provided by the sale of Alabama-NWTF specialty vehicle license plates.
The announcement of NWTF Alabama’s 2024 project allocations comes off the heels of a successful year of conservation in the state, including over $28,000 contributed to wild turkey research, $23,000 to equipment purchases to impact thousands of acres year over year, private land work and more.
