St. George, Utah - The National Wild Turkey Federation is sticking to its guns not only for turkey hunters, but for all sportsmen.  While some organizations are stepping away from hunting, the NWTF has taken another step to preserve our hunting heritage by awarding $100,000 to the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, a national watchdog for the rights of hunters.

"The restoration of the wild turkey, white-tailed deer and even the bald eagle would not have happened without sportsmen. Conservation can't exist without hunters," said Rob Keck, CEO of the NWTF.  "The Federation's mission statement makes it 100 percent clear that we're committed to hunting, and our contributions to WLFA will be used to protect and advance the rights of sportsmen throughout North America."

The check presentation was made June 3 during the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference in St. George, Utah.  The NWTF, a 390,000-member conservation organization, has donated $100,000 to WLFA annually for the past three years.  The funding is provided through a combination of support from the NWTF's national Super Fund and its 1,800 state and local chapters.

The WLFA provides direct lobbying and grassroots coalition support to protect and advance the rights of hunters, fishermen, trappers and scientific wildlife management professionals.  This is accomplished through coalition building, ballot issue campaigning and legislative and government relations.  For more information about the WLFA, visit their web site at www.wlfa.org.

About the NWTF: In 1973 when the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded, there were an estimated 1.3 million wild turkeys and 1.5 million turkey hunters. Thanks to the work of state wildlife agencies and the NWTF's many volunteers and partners, today there are an estimated 5.4 million wild turkeys and approximately 2.6 million turkey hunters. Since 1985, more than
$135 million NWTF and cooperator dollars have been spent on over 15,000 projects benefiting wild turkeys throughout North America.

The NWTF is a 390,000-member grassroots, nonprofit organization with members in 50 states, Canada and 11 foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.

For more information on the National Wild Turkey Federation, 
call (803) 637-3106; check out our website at www.nwtf.org or e-mail questions to nwtf@nwtf.net.