NWTF offers free oak seedlings

Clubs, landowners can create natural food for wild turkeys, other game

From News Reports

December 11, 2008 at 11:03 am  | Mobile Reader | Print 

CRAIG HOLT

Acorns are one of the favorite foods of many types of wildlife, including wild turkeys, and the NWTF is offering free oak seedlings to current members and new members.

A partnership between the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the NWTF has made 15,000 oak seedlings available free to private landowners in North Carolina. These native seedlings are grown under a specialized nursery protocol at the Flint River Nursery in Georgia. The result of this nursery protocol is a large, vigorous seedling with high survivability, high growth potential, and the potential to produce mast in approximately 10 years.

This tree-planting program provides long-term habitat for wild turkeys and other wildlife.

Private landowners interested in participating in the free program must be or become a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation ($30 annual fee).

NWTF staff will review all applications and provide seedlings to as many interested landowners as possible.

These bare-root seedlings have extensive root systems and will require post-hole diggers or an auger for planting.

Participants will be required to pick up their seedlings from a centralized location in the state. These sites and dates will be determined and announced before trees are available in January or February. Most seedling loads will fit in a truck bed.

NWTF members or those interested in joining NWTF to receive free seedlings must complete an application form and mail, e-mail or fax it back to the attention of: Kay Morris, Operation Oak, P.O. Box 530, Edgefield, SC 29824, kmorris@nwtf.net, fax (803) 637-9180. 

Applications must be received in Edgefield on or before Dec. 15, 2008.

To receive application forms or for more information call Kay Morris at 803-637-7536 or 800-637-3106 Ext. 7536.