For Release: Tuesday, September 7, 2004
DEC Releases Draft Wild Turkey Management Plan
Public Comments Sought on Plan to Manage New York's Turkey Population
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced that a draft "Wild Turkey Management Plan" has been completed and is now available for public review and comment. This management plan will provide a blueprint to guide wild turkey management in New York for the foreseeable future.
"The wild turkey is an important part of New York State's wildlife diversity and DEC is committed to properly managing this grand game bird for the enjoyment of current and future generations of New Yorkers," Commissioner Crotty said. "The draft turkey management plan details the social and biological conditions found in New York and uses research on wild turkey population dynamics and management techniques that will help us effectively manage the State's wild turkey population."
For the last half century, DEC's wild turkey management plan has focused on restoring the wild turkey. Due to extensive clearing of habitat and unregulated hunting in the 19th century, the wild turkey disappeared from the State. After the Civil War, agriculture shifted to the mid-west. Abandoned farm fields were gradually replaced by young forests and the turkey population began to spread back into the new habitat from northwestern Pennsylvania. The return of the wild turkey sparked an interest in the continued restoration of the species and in 1952 the DEC- then the Conservation Department- started a formal wild turkey restoration effort. The effort included inter-state transfer of wild turkeys as well as habitat protection and preservation.
Today, wild turkeys have been successfully reestablished and are abundant in nearly all areas of suitable habitat in New York State. As the wild turkey population has grown, DEC recognized the need to develop a long-range management plan. DEC reached out to the sporting community, birding groups, and the agricultural community for issues that should be addressed in the plan.
The plan contains background information on the wild turkey in New York and an assessment of the current wild turkey management program. In addition, it addresses population monitoring and protection (including methods for determining harvest), public use, nuisance and damage management, and outreach efforts. It also features a systematic approach to decision-making that assess a wide variety of factors when management changes are being considered by the Department's wildlife biologists and policy makers.
The draft plan is posted on the DEC website and print copies are available by writing New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Wild Turkey Management Plan, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754. Public comments will be accepted until October 15, 2004 and can be sent to either the address above, or by email to fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us with "turkey plan" in the subject line.
04-106
