BEDFORD, Indiana — The National Trappers Association and Turkeys For Tomorrow announced a working partnership this week that will help members of both organizations improve their own conservation, trapping and hunting results in the field. Trapping predators and conserving turkeys are practices that share many common goals. Now members of organizations dedicated to each can benefit from the knowledge, expertise and opportunities represented by the other.
“The National Trappers Association is dedicated to sound and scientifically-regulated wildlife management,” said John Daniel, NTA President. “Meaningful trapping has proven time and again to be the most effective and efficient method for managing predators for a balanced and healthy environment for all wildlife. The NTA is excited to partner with Turkeys For Tomorrow to educate the general public, land owners and property managers about the need for sound, science-based management, and to help facilitate plans that include meaningful trapping.”
Turkeys for Tomorrow encourages the strategic trapping of turkey nest predators and supports scientific field research, putting boots on the ground along two major avenues to benefit wild turkeys. Reducing nest predator populations, especially just ahead of the weeks in which young turkeys are at their most vulnerable, has been proven effective at allowing wild turkey flocks to recover, grow and thrive. Turkeys For Tomorrow is young but already has more than 2,300 individual members and will have 10 regional chapters founded and thriving by the end of the current year. The National Trappers Association is committed to defending and promoting the safe and ethical harvest of furbearing mammals, and to the preservation and enhancement of their habitats. The NTA is comprised of 56 state trapping affiliates and represents more than 9,000 dedicated trappers. The pairing of NTA with TFT is a natural fit.
“In many places during the past few years, populations of raccoons, opossums and skunks have skyrocketed in the same habitats where wild turkeys, once numerous, have all but disappeared,” said Ron Jolly, co-chairman of the board for TFT. “Trapping nest predators is not the whole solution, but it’s a very important part of it. By working with the NTA, we’ll be better able to help our members learn how to trap on their own properties, and we’ll also connect them to dedicated trappers they can hire to get it done.”
First among goals for the two groups is to create a list of preferred trappers for hire, making their services easily accessible to members of TFT. Landowner field days will serve as opportunities for experienced trappers to share their knowledge through demonstrations, and to meet landowners whose turkey flocks would benefit from an application of the trapper’s art and skill.
“Research and direct action are both needed,” said Dan Braman, co-chairman of the board for TFT. “While research takes time, there are common sense actions we can take today. If we do our part to create a more balanced number of predators by trapping, turkeys’ survival numbers will go up.”
To learn more about the National Trappers Association, visit www.nationaltrappers.com.