TWRA Managing Wild Turkeys

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency wants to better manage the state’s population of wild turkeys.

Roger Shields is the Wild Turkey Program Coordinator for the TWRA.

“There’s a lot of people who care about wild turkeys and we want to make sure that we are appropriately managing them, whether it’s for the hunters or just the wildlife viewer, whoever, we just want to make sure we’re doing out job,” Shields said.

Shields said a Strategic Plan was important to keep the agency on track in its efforts to manage turkey populations.

“Without a plan you sometimes don’t know where you are going,” Shields said. “I think it’s important to take time to plot a direction.”

According to the report, the three main goals of the plan is to keep turkey populations at sustainable levels, enhance turkey habitats, and increase communication to the public about the importance of turkeys.

“We know that habitat is kind of the key,” Shields said. “That’s where when we talk about wildlife species, habitat is where it begins. So that’s important, and just making sure people are aware of what we’re doing and that we’re hearing from the people, as well. We want to make sure there’s good two way communication going on.”

The Strategic Plan can be found on the TWRA’s website at http://www.tnwildlife.org.