Visit to NWTF

        Last week, our Conservation Ecology class visited the National Wild Turkey Federation, and learned how over time, a land ethic developed for the protection and conservation of wild turkeys. Suddenly during our visit, I remembered that my uncle John belongs to the NWTF and hunts wild turkeys. I also remembered that after he would shoot a turkey, he saved all of the feathers for me when I was a little kid (when I was about three years old, I had an unusual obsession with feathers). At that time I could only appreciate his gift for me, the feathers, but I was not yet able to understand his gift to the land: conservation. One misconception about hunters is that they represent waste and excess, not conservation (probably thanks to hunters during the 19th century). But groups such as the NWTF actually promote the ethic of sustainability; keeping the turkey population in check while at the time time making sure it is not depleted. There definitely need to be more groups and organizations out there today that promote sustainability, instead of the wasteful practices of our global population.