Thanksgiving’s honored guest a true American success story

Then about 13 years ago, the National Wild Turkey Federation along with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and several private landowners began restocking the Eastern in several East Texas counties. Now 35 counties have enough of these birds that the parks department offers a limited hunting season. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the federation which as worked for the last three decades to improve wild turkey habitat across the United States. 

MARBLE FALLS — To say Robert Linder enjoys talking turkey would be an understatement.

As the Texas State Chapter president of the National Wild Turkey Federation, one of Linder’s passions is not only hunting the bird, but working to ensure the species thrives. Which hasn’t always been the case.

“The wild turkey has experienced some major setbacks,” he said. “Even here in Texas the Eastern subspecies was killed out by 1912.”

But it wasn’t just the Eastern subspecies that faced a dire situation. By the 1930s, all five subspecies (Eastern, Rio Grande, Osceola, Merriam’s and Gould’s) faced extinction. Conservationists estimate there were only about 30,000 wild turkeys in the United States at that time, a significant drop from the days early European settlers found plentiful numbers of wild turkey. 

Overkilling due to market hunting and loss of habitat pushed the wild turkey population to extremely low numbers. 

And while it seems strange that sport hunters would want to save the wild turkey, Linder said hunters and anglers are the ones who really lead the way for conservation. 

“In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt called the first White House conference on conservation,” he said. “(Roosevelt) said at the time that the people who will take care of the game and wildlife are the hunters and fishermen. And he was right. While there are a lot of people who say they take care of wildlife, most of their time and money goes into litigation and legislation. We (hunters and anglers) are putting our money on the ground where the wildlife need it and benefit from it.”

Since the 1950s, state wildlife departments have been using “trap-and-transfer” methods to reintroduce wild turkeys to areas of the country where they disappeared. Much of the funding for such projects comes from the licenses hunters purchase each year, Linder said.

But when wild turkey enthusiasts saw that wasn’t enough, they created an organization to help out. In 1973, Tom Rodgers founded the NWTF to promote hunting heritage and wild turkey conservation. At the time, the wild turkey population had already grown from 30,000 birds in the 1930s to roughly 1.3 million. Today, biologist believe more than 7 million wild turkey inhabit 750 million acres of suitable habitat.

“The National Wild Turkey Federation has been really instrumental in re-establishing turkeys,” Linder said. 

Here in Texas the NWTF began working with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department about 13 years ago to bring the Eastern subspecies back. While the Rio Grande subspecies has flourished, that couldn’t always be said for its Eastern cousin, which had disappeared from the Lone Star State during World War I.

Linder, a Marble Falls resident, said the NWTF and TPWD began relocating trapped wild birds from other states in several East Texas counties. During a period of several years, working on public and private land, the two organizations relocated 13,000 Eastern turkeys to about 35 counties.

“At a cost of $600 per hen and $675 per gobbler, you’re talking about a several-million-dollar commitment,” he said. 

Biologists monitored the progress of the birds as they settled into their new habitat. The NWTF, though consisting mainly of hunters, didn’t immediately begin asking for a hunting season on the birds. Linder said the first real goal of the Texas chapter was to help the turkeys survive.

“When we reintroduce turkeys into a new area, we don’t want to hunt them for at least five years,” he said. “We want to make sure they’re responding well.”

And the East Texas flock did. After seeing what the wildlife agency and federation were doing, several landowners also got involved.

“Several private landowners have put up money themselves to bring in the birds,” Linder said. “They realized the value of re-establishing the Eastern wild turkey. But they also went on to form a cooperative with several of the other landowners along this particular stretch of the Trinity River. Now, they’re all looking out for the birds.”

Just because a landowner pays to relocate wild turkey on his or her property doesn’t lock the turkey into that property. Linder said several of the birds have expanded well beyond the release locations.

“It’s been a remarkable project,” he said. “And quite a success story.”

With the reintroduction of the Eastern subspecies, Texas has two varieties — Eastern and Rio Grande.

The Rio Grande is by far the more populous and is found across a wide range of Texas, including the Highland Lakes.

But to reintroduce wild turkeys or just conserve habitat takes money. While the federation’s national headquarters is in South Carolina, it’s the local chapters across the country that help raise the funds during the year. With 500,000 members nationwide and 75,000 in Texas, Linder said the organization relies heavily on local grass-roots efforts both to raise money and build awareness of wild turkey and habitat conservation.

One of the things Linder wants to do in the Highland Lakes is build up the local chapter. The local group, which includes Burnet and Llano counties, has held a banquet the past two years. That’s something Linder would like to see more guests attend.

“What people don’t realize is 50 percent of the funds raised at these banquets stays in their state — for us that’s Texas. It doesn’t all go off to some national office,” he said.

Linder is hosting a meeting Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in his Marble Falls home, 3302 Vista Lane for anybody interested in learning about the federation, wild turkey and conservation efforts. 

“Right now, I’m trying to connect with the turkey hunters in the community,” he said.

But it’s not just an organization for hunters. In fact, Linder said he knows several members who would never consider hunting, but still value the birds for what they bring to the natural world.

“They just love being around turkey,” he said. “And that’s the beauty of this organization. It really has something to offer anybody.”

While the federation’s focus is wild turkey, Linder said the conservation efforts, especially in relation to habitat, benefit all wildlife species.

“The thing is good habitat helps all wildlife,” he said. “Whether you’re a hunter or not, that’s something we can all work together on.”

For more information on wild turkeys, the federation or the Dec. 9 meeting, call Linder at (830) 693-9515.

daniel@thepicayune.com

Photo by Henry Zeman/National Wild Turkey Federation