‘As Good As It Gets For Wild Turkeys’

When most people think of a classic turkey hunt in the South, it involves visions of a longbeard ghosting through a pine forest on its way to a carefully concealed hunter. Healthy southern pine forests are essential for providing the habitat turkeys need to thrive.

Southern forests were traditionally made up of longleaf pine. Stretching from southeastern Virginia to eastern Texas and the northern two-thirds of the Florida Panhandle, longleaf pines once covered over 90 million acres. Currently, only 3% of those original stands remain. Timber cutting operations for lumber production favored replanting other species, including loblolly pines instead of the native longleaf species.

In 2010, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services established the Longleaf Pine initiative to facilitate conservation partnerships with both private and public entities to help restore longleaf pines to their original range. From 2010 to 2014, more than 260,000 acres of privately owned land was restored.

The importance of restoring longleaf pine forests was a major reason the NWTF and NRCS partnered and created the National Forestry Initiative. This nationwide agreement provides foresters who work out of various NRCS offices throughout the country. These foresters supply technical advice and financial assistance to private landowners who want to improve timber stands and habitat. Funding is generally provided by EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) or CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program). The NWTF currently has two foresters working in longleaf pine areas: Laura Prevatte in North Carolina and Amelia Purdy in Florida’s panhandle, in addition to multiple district biologists working to improve these habitats for wild turkeys and other wildlife.

Landowners can apply for funds to implement habitat improvements on their property to reduce understory growth, conduct prescribed burns and plant new stands of longleaf pines. Standing longleaf pine forests provide not only excellent wild turkey habitat, but they also host everything from deer, songbirds and squirrels to various reptiles and amphibians. Some longleaf habitats support up to 170 species.

Longleaf pines benefit from periodic fires to thin understory and provide a more open forest floor. Their natural fire resistance makes them good candidates for controlled burns. Ricky Lackey, NWTF district biologist for Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, said the NWTF, NRCS, the Longleaf Alliance and the Nature Conservancy work together to fund teams that conduct controlled burns on state and federal lands.

“A well-managed longleaf pine ecosystem is as good as it gets for wild turkeys,” Lackey said. “Without good, consistent fire, you don’t have the understory and structure that’s important for poults and nesting cover. Without periodic burning, the woods can become much too overgrown and woody for birds to thrive.”

Lackey pointed to a current project on the Osceola National Forest in northeast Florida, which covers about 200,000 acres consisting of pine flatwoods and cypress and hardwood swamps, as an example. Plans are to sell timber off nearly 800 acres and roller-chop and mulch another 1,480 acres to improve wild turkey habitat.

“This will reduce saw palmetto coverage to facilitate prescribed burning,” Lackey said. “Turkeys and quail are part of a small group of birds that depend on fire to provide the habitat they need for their life cycle.”

Since 1985, the year the NWTF Super Fund began, federation volunteers and partners have raised and invested nearly half a billion dollars toward conserving wildlife habitat and preserving our hunting heritage.

Laura Prevatte spent 30 years with the Forest Service in North Carolina before retiring and becoming an NWTF forester, working with private landowners in the state.

“It’s exciting to work with landowners who want to restore longleaf pine to their properties,” Prevatte said. “We sometimes work with second and third generation owners of the land. Most want to restore longleaf pine to see more wildlife like turkeys, deer and quail. They also want to leave a legacy for future generations. One landowner has cut approximately 150 acres of loblolly pine forest to prepare for reintroduction of longleaf pine. It’s been more than 30 years since the land saw prescribed burns.

“If I could give landowners one piece of advice,” she added, “it would be to get a fresh start, and if you aren’t already working with a forester, get a forester to look at your property with you and let them know what you want your property to look like. Get a plan and start working to implement it. Contact the NRCS to find out if funding is available to help you make your vision for your property a reality.”

Reforestation efforts now use longleaf pine seedling plugs instead of bare root. This provides a head start on growth and helps trees mature sooner. A prescribed fire is generally done after the seedlings are a year old to reduce competition from weeds. Herbicides can also be used to target certain unwanted species. After the initial burn, another isn’t done until the trees reach 4 to 5 feet high, then every two to three years after. Depending on the soil, longleaf pines can reach 50-90 feet high in 50 years.

Programs including EQIP, CRP, Regional Conservation Partnership Program and Stewardship Contracting are all funded through the Federal Farm Bill. The farm bill brings landowners, farmers, forest owners, commercial operations, and governmental and nongovernmental groups together for the common cause of creating better habitat, cleaner water and stronger forests for future generations. Cost-share monies and incentives, as well as technical assistance, wouldn’t be available if not for the farm bill.

The current farm bill, passed in 2018, is set to expire this fall. Former NWTF CEO Becky Humphries was part of a five-member panel of forestry professionals representing nonprofit organizations that testified before the House Committee on Agriculture last July. The group offered recommendations related to the farm bill’s forestry title (Title VIII), which is key to conservation of forested lands.

“While the farm bill is largely aimed at addressing hunger and food security for our nation, it is also one of the biggest drivers of conservation on public and private lands,” Humphries said. “Much of the work we do on private and public lands finds its roots in the farm bill’s conservation and forestry titles. Our partnerships with the Forest Service and NRCS give us unique insight into what programs are working and where there’s room for improvement. Our finalized recommendations will be published and promoted through the Congressional Farm Bill effort over the next year. We stand ready to be a resource for and partner of Congress during the process to ensure our voice is part of the national discussion.”