NWTF Minnesota and Partners Pledge over $800,000 to Healthy Habitats. Healthy Harvests. in 2025
EDGEFIELD, S.C. — The Minnesota NWTF State Chapter recently met in Kimball to review Hunting Heritage Super Fund project proposals for 2025 funding awards. After the reviewing and ranking process, proposals were approved by the Minnesota NWTF State Chapter Board of Directors. The board budgeted $60,677 for conservation projects and $77,000 for hunting heritage projects. NWTF conservation project award funding will be matched with $724,786 in partner or grant funds for the approved projects.
"We are able to have a large organizational impact thanks to the tireless efforts of our members and volunteers raising the funds needed to operate at a statewide scale in Minnesota,” said Clayton Lenk, NWTF district biologist for Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. "The projects that are receiving funding for 2025 will not only have immediate on-the-ground impacts but will provide benefits to wildlife and recreational users for the foreseeable future. We are excited to roll up our sleeves with our partners and make an impact for the NWTF mission."
The NWTF Hunting Heritage Super Fund is 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 in their respective states and beyond. For Minnesota's 2025 Super Fund allocations, conservation award funding will support numerous projects and conservation activities with multiple partners. The Minnesota NWTF State Chapter will also support numerous NWTF Education and Outreach activities and hunting heritage projects across the state, such as the Trust for Public Land mentored hunts, WITO events, JAKES evetns, Wheelin' Sportsmen Events, trap shooting teams and more.
Specific funding awards for the Minnesota NWTF State Chapter’s 2025 funding awards include but are not limited to:
- Great River Greening Pillager Point project: $2,000.
- Mille Lacs Soil and Water Conservation District landowner forestry workshop: $1,000.
- Sherburne County Parks Department equipment purchase: $2,107.
- The Nature Conservancy prescribed burn equipment purchases: $20,000.
- USDA Forest Service Chippewa National Forest wildlife openings: $10,570.
- WinLac Local Forestry Team private lands management: $10,000.
- Trust for Public Land mentored hunts: $2,000.
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 positively impacted over 23 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested over $10 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. The organization continues to deliver its mission by working across boundaries on a landscape scale through its Four Shared Values: clean and abundant water, healthy forests and wildlife habitat, resilient communities, and robust recreational opportunities. With the help of its dedicated members, partners and staff, the NWTF continues its work to provide Healthy Habitats. and Healthy Harvests. for future generations.