Illinois State Chapter Approves Funding for Mission Delivery in 2023

The Board of Directors budgeted $79,667 for conservation projects and $81,545 for Hunting Heritage-related projects, including outreach-education events, chapter scholarships, shooting sports support and mentored hunts.    

“Invasive species are a national concern, but the problem is worse in some places than in others,” said John Burk, NWTF district biologist for Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. “Throughout Illinois, the list of problem species seems to grow longer every year, and you can spot the problem looking in any direction no matter where you are standing in the state. My region's conservation efforts focus on restoring and maintaining quality early brood-rearing habitat. That means managing favorable herbaceous vegetative structure, and in Illinois, that also usually means getting rid of something else that should not be there."

Projects awarded funding for 2023 occur in the Shawnee Hills and Illinois/Kaskaskia Focal Landscapes.

Specific project awards include:

• $20,000 unrestricted gift to a conservation program for use in Illinois.  

• $10,000 to conduct phase three of open woodland restoration at Siloam Springs State Park. 

• $10,000 to support the Southern Illinois and Great Rivers Prescribed Burn Association, which will collectively conduct over 1,500 acres of prescribed burning on private land in 17 southern Illinois Counties.

• $8,000 to support the Illinois Seed Subsidy Program offered at a 50% cost share to Illinois NWTF members to enhance up to 400 acres.

• $10,000 to complete 167 acres of nonnative invasive species control in Jim Edgar Panther Creek WMA. 

• $10,000 to complete 25 acres of glade restoration at Pere Marquette State Forest

• $5,000 to complete 16 acres of honeysuckle control on the Land Conservancy of McHenry County property.

• $6,667 to assist with purchasing a UTV that will be used primarily for prescribed burning (1,000 acres annually) on Illinois's national wildlife refuge system.

Partners include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Southern Illinois Prescribed Burn Association, Great Rivers Prescribed Burn Association, NWTF Illinois members, Land Conservancy of McHenry County, Missouri State Chapter and Iowa State Chapter. 

About the National Wild Turkey Federation

Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested over half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has conserved or enhanced over 22 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The organization continues to drive wildlife conservation, forest resiliency and robust recreational opportunities throughout the U.S. by working across boundaries on a landscape scale. Today, the NWTF is investing heavily in wild turkey research to ensure the future of wild turkey populations and is working to secure Healthy Habitats and Healthy Harvests.