This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Cedar City • Dixie National Forest is going to allow the National Wild Turkey Federation to cut timber commercially and use any proceeds to help improve forest lands.
Kenton Call, spokesman for the forest located in southern Utah, said the agreement will create the largest stewardship program undertaken by the forest and the turkey federation, one of the largest in the country.
Call said the turkey federation, based in South Carolina, will be able to haul out timber on nearly 2,000 acres in an area known as the Pockets, in Garfield County. In return, the wildlife group will conduct service projects in the forest, including thinning the forest and improving aspen stands. Dixie is the largest national forest in Utah.
Stan Baker, a Moab resident and wildlife biologist for turkey federation programs in Utah and Colorado, said the project will improve habitat for turkeys and other wildlife by opening up areas of forest for growth of grasses and other flower-bearing plants. It will also clear fuels that could feed wildfires.
The timber is valued at $83,000. The Forest Service also will kick in $190,000 for the project, while the turkey federation will contribute $90,000 to the deal.
Dixie National Forest Service Superintendent Rob MacWhorter praised the agreement as helping both sides.
"Together we are making the forest healthier, providing jobs to the local community, and improving wildlife habitat, especially for turkey," said MacWhorter.
Baker said the agreement allows the contractors hired by the group to pull out aspen and downed Engelmann spruce killed by bugs, a problem prevalent in the Dixie forest.
In addition to the Pockets project, there are smaller stewardship efforts involving the turkey federation in Dixie and in Fishlake National Forest.
The timber from the Pockets project will be sold or stacked for future use, said Baker, noting southwest Utah currently has a depressed timber market.
Baker said that part of the aspen rejuvenation project will also include constructing fencing to protect the new trees from foraging deer and elk that have a preference for the young shoots.
The National Wild Turkey Federation is the second-largest wildlife conservation group in the country next to Ducks Unlimited, according to Baker, with 2,200 chapters around the country.
Baker said turkey populations dwindled around the country beginning in the 1920s because of human impact, but have made a steady recovery in Utah and other states through conservation and transplant efforts by organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation.
He said the bird is now hunted in all states but Alaska.
Justin Dolling, upland game and waterfowl program coordinator with the Division of Wildlife Resources, said for the past two years turkey hunters in the state have been able to purchase over-the-counter permits for the spring hunt for $35 with a $10 handling fee.
Dolling said the first year, 10,000 permits were purchased with 7,000 this year.
Dolling said in Utah only male turkeys, which are identified by the color of their heads, feather displays and distinctive beards, can be hunted.
He said the elusive bird is not easy to hunt because it requires patience, camouflage or blinds, use of decoys and calls that simulate gobbles.
"In general, turkey [populations] in Utah are doing well as [hunting] interest grows," said Dolling. "They are easier to carry out of the woods than an elk."