Through their collaborative National Master Stewardship Agreement, the National Wild Turkey Federation and the USDA Forest Service have expanded their partnership to improve the health and resiliency of America’s forests, thanks to the addition of the Deer Point Forest Stewardship Project in the Boise National Forest. This new project is a key component of the national Wildfire Crisis Strategy, specifically targeting the Southwest Idaho Landscape, one of the ten critical landscapes identified in the strategy.
The Deer Point Forest Stewardship Project is strategically located about 10 miles north of Boise, Idaho, and falls within the Southwest Idaho Landscape—a region spanning 1.7 million acres, including significant portions of both the Boise and Payette National Forests. The broad-scale effort across this landscape aims to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires while enhancing wildlife habitat and the landscape’s overall resilience to increasing environmental stressors.
Funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, the new project will focus on reducing wildfire hazards, enhancing wildlife habitat and forest health and ensuring the safety of communities within the wildland-urban interface, which are areas where human development meets undeveloped wildland. The Southwest Idaho Landscape is adjacent to/includes 14 core communities identified as having an elevated risk for wildfire exposure.
“Our goal is to see this first WCS project on the Southwest Idaho Landscape greatly enhance the resiliency of all wildlife habitat by creating healthier forests and watersheds that will, in turn, support local communities and increase their own resiliency for future generations,” said Mica Keralis, NWTF wildfire crisis coordinator for regions 1 and 4. “The goals of the Deer Point Forest Stewardship Project align with NWTF’s Four Shared Values by enhancing clean water on the Boise National Forest with wildfire risk reduction, increasing the resiliency of communities within the areas of the wildland-urban interface, and creating more robust recreational opportunities in a healthy forest.
“Catastrophic wildfires have a devastating impact on the forests in southwest Idaho and the communities that rely on them. By applying appropriate prescriptions and reducing the wildfire risk, we can also improve wildlife habitat and maintain a forest products industry that can sustain these projects to remove underutilized forest products. It is a cyclical effort that benefits our forests and the people who revere them.”
Additionally, the project will pioneer innovative methods for forest product transportation and utilization, with the goal of supporting underserved communities and bolstering local infrastructure. This underscores the shared responsibility of NWTF and the Forest Service in managing natural resources and achieving the broader objectives of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.
Learn more about the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and the relationship between wild turkeys and catastrophic wildfire prevention.
About the National Wild Turkey Federation
Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested over half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted over 23 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. The NWTF has also invested over $10 million into wild turkey research to guide the management of the wild turkey population and to ensure sustainable populations into perpetuity. The organization continues to deliver its mission by working across boundaries on a landscape scale through its Four Shared Values: clean and abundant water, healthy forests and wildlife habitat, resilient communities, and robust recreational opportunities. With the help of its dedicated members, partners and staff, the NWTF continues its work to provide Healthy Habitats. and Healthy Harvests. for future generations.
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