NWTF Applauds the New Farm Bill

After years of work since the Farm Bill of 2008 expired, Congress has passed a comprehensive bill that includes strong provisions for conservation and sportsmen.

The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, or 2014 Farm Bill, includes key conservation components that benefit the country’s wildlife and natural resources as well as our sporting heritage.

While the Conservation Title of this Farm Bill is smaller, it consolidates and simplifies programs. A key provision of this bill ties crop insurance to conservation compliance and ensures we are farming the best tillable ground and protecting highly erodible and wetland acreage. This bill also includes a Sodsaver program that discourages farmers from tilling sensitive native grassland habitats in areas of the country; it provides dedicated funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program; extends stewardship contracting; creates mandatory funding for thinning and burning on Conservation Reserve Program lands as well as mandatory funding for voluntary hunter access program, such as the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentives Program, which will receive $40 million of guaranteed funding; and enhance forestry provisions that strengthen forest management across the United States.

“We are extremely pleased with the Conservation Title in this Farm Bill,” said Becky Humphries, executive vice president of conservation for the National Wild Turkey Federation. “We applaud the work of Chairwoman Stabenow and Chairman Lucas to write and pass a farm bill that is simpler, more streamlined, but provides key provisions for good conservation.”

National Wild Turkey Federation

The National Wild Turkey Federation is the leader in upland wildlife habitat conservation in North America. The NWTF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.

Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations throughout North America, spending more than $331 million to conserve nearly 16 million acres of habitat. Wild turkeys and hundreds of other species of upland wildlife, including quail, deer, grouse, pheasant and songbirds, benefit from this improved habitat.

The NWTF also brings new conservationists and hunters into the fold through outdoor education events and its Women in the Outdoors, Wheelin' Sportsmen, JAKES and Xtreme JAKES youth outreach programs. Our dedicated NWTF volunteers introduce about 100,000 people to the outdoors through these programs every year.

Founded in 1973, the NWTF is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C., and has local chapters in every state and Canada. According to many state and federal agencies, the restoration of the wild turkey is arguably the greatest conservation success story in North America's wildlife history.