A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the National Wild Turkey Federation and recognize the organization's significant contributions to scientific wildlife management, research, and habitat conservation, as well as promoting and protecting the long-honored outdoor traditions of the United States of America.

WHEREAS, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Inc. was incorporated on March 28, 1973, in Fredericksburg, Virginia; and

WHEREAS, for over fifty years, the National Wild Turkey Federation and millions of members and chapters across the nation have worked with state, federal, and nongovernmental partners to promote the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage, participating in one of the greatest conservation success stories in American history, the return of the wild turkey from the brink of extinction; and

WHEREAS, the National Wild Turkey Federation, its members, and chapters have been the vanguard of reversing declining hunting participation through nationwide investment in hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation efforts, and partnering with states to develop opportunities to engage people from all walks of life in the outdoors tradition. Since 2012, the National Wild Turkey Federation has recruited and reactivated more than one-and-a-half million hunters; and

WHEREAS, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested more than half a billion dollars to conserve or enhance more than twenty-two million acres of critical wildlife habitat, forests, and grasslands across public and private lands since 1985; and

WHEREAS, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested more than eight-and-a-half million dollars in research throughout North America to ensure healthy wild turkey populations into the future; and

WHEREAS, the National Wild Turkey Federation is the largest and longest-serving nongovernmental stewardship partner of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, conserving habitat on National Forest System lands for more than forty years, and heavily engaged in the development and implementation of the Department’s wildfire crisis strategy:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the Ninety-Eighth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that the Legislature recognizes and celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the National Wild Turkey Federation and salutes the organization, its chapters, and members from across the United States for its tremendous efforts to further scientific, state-led wildlife management, and the conservation of the wild turkey and its habitat. The Legislature wishes the National Wild Turkey Federation, its members, and chapters the best for the future as they continue to deliver their mission by working across land-ownership boundaries on a landscape scale to increase clean and abundant water, healthy forests and wildlife habitat, resilient communities, and robust recreational opportunities across the country.