St. George, UT: Following through on the historic commitment of a $1 million donation to protect hunting and shooting sports heritage traditions, the National Wild Turkey Federation presented a check for $250,000 to the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund.  The first installment was given to the NSSF during the annual meeting of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

    The NWTF, a nearly 400,000-member conservation organization dedicated to the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of the North American hunting tradition, will donate $250,000 per year over the next four years to the Heritage Fund.  The funding will be provided through a combination of support from the NWTF and its 1,800 state and local chapters..

    The four-year $1 million donation is helping to finance a major
educational campaign that will introduce to the general public the historic role of hunting and shooting traditions in America and the wholesome recreation hunting and shooting provides for millions of men, women and children across the United States.

    "Some have asked why an organization dedicated to wildlife conservation would make such a major contribution to the firearms industry," said Rob Keck, NWTF CEO.  "To us it's simple, without firearms there would be no hunting, without hunting there would be no conservation and without conservation there would be no wildlife, in our case the wild turkey."

    The Heritage Fund was founded at the 1999 SHOT SHOW and provides for a coordinated aggressive legal response to the politically motivated lawsuits filed against the firearms industry and a professional communications campaign to restore the rightful and responsible image of the industry and its customers.

For 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.

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.