Missouri Volunteer Receives National NWTF Award

Kyle Lairmore is dedicated to every NWTF event he coordinates, and this devotion earned the Owensville, Mo., native the NWTF Wheelin’ Sportsmen Volunteer of the Year Award.

Lairmore accepted his award during the 38th annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn. MidwayUSA was the official show sponsor.

“Volunteering is the most rewarding experience of my life,” Lairmore said. “I volunteer so I won’t lose the opportunity to contribute to someone’s life experience. It’s a chance to pass on what I’ve learned and help them create memories they can cherish for life.”

The NWTF determined this year’s award winners based on how their work strengthens the organization’s new Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative. Lairmore’s work to introduce people with disabilities to hunting, coupled with his service to many outdoor organizations, made him a fitting choice for the top honor a Wheelin’ Sportsmen volunteer can receive.

Through local chapter events across North America, the Wheelin’ Sportsmen program offers opportunities to people with disabilities eager to be outdoors and engage in an active lifestyle.

Lairmore grew up on a farm, earned a bachelors degree in wildlife management from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and began working at the Missouri Department of Conservation. To further youth education for shooting sports and conservation in Missouri, Lairmore received various grants. Through his hard work, more than $200,000 in grants have been awarded to schools, colleges, wildlife chapters, clubs and organizations.

In 2008, Lairmore coordinated the first Mid-Missouri Dream Hunters Special Needs Youth Hunt to provide youth with special needs opportunities to adopt a lifestyle that includes hunting and the outdoors. That year, the event won the NWTF Wheelin’ Sportsmen Hunting Event of the Year. The hunt continues annually.

The NWTF’s Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative is a charge that mobilizes science, fundraising and devoted volunteers to give the NWTF more energy and purpose than ever. Through this national initiative, NWTF has committed to raising $1.2 billion to conserve and enhance more than 4 million acres of essential upland wildlife habitat, create at least 1.5 million new hunters and open access to 500,000 new acres for hunting, shooting and outdoor enjoyment. Without hunters, there will be no wildlife or habitat. The NWTF is determined to Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt.

For more information about the Wheelin’ Sportsmen Volunteer of the Year Award or other convention highlights, contact Melanie Swearingen at mswearingen@nwtf.net or (803) 637-7634.

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.