Thanks to decades of work from hunters, outdoorsmen, and conservation groups like the National Wild Turkey Federation, Wild Turkey populations have hit historic numbers with a high today of nearly 7 million in North America. Despite the successful recovery of Wild Turkey populations, the work of the NWTF is just beginning. The NWTF is helping to improve forest ecosystems out west by expanding wildlife friendly forests with a partnership agreement between the United States Forest Service and private contractors. In Oregon, the Sun Stewardship Agreement is being used to increase the amount of habitat restoration work completed. Due to 100 years of fire suppression efforts, many of the vital habitat areas within the forest and drainages have overgrown and are out competing the hardwoods. The objective of the Sun Stewardship Project is to accomplish ponderosa pine thinning, opening forest stands back up so that forest management can be using prescribed fires to manage the forest and stimulate any hardwoods that may be present in the drainages, using fire to respite and reshoot and encourage the production of aspen. On the ground, there has already been a significant amount of restoration work completed, including head cut abatement, culvert replacement, riparian planting, non-commercial thinning, juniper removal, and aspen enhancement. In total, this project will non-commercial thin 935 acres and commercially thin 435 acres of ponderosa pine and dry grand fur forest types to promote the abundance of lake and old structure single strand of forest. Additionally, 6 acres will be thinned in a manner that will benefit and promote aspen growth, which is a unique and highly valuable wildlife habitat in the Ocho-Co National Forest. The Sun Stewardship Project is a unique type of thinning where it is completed while being careful of riparian areas in order to avoid damaging species there. This is a process to which they are all connecting the delicate areas where non-commercial thinning occurs, with areas that have a standard commercial timber harvest. Collectively they will all be pulled together, the value of the commercial timber removed is then in turn used to implement additional forest and watershed restoration activities. Turkey hunting in Oregon over the past couple of years is some of the best the state has ever had since the National Wild Turkey Federation has been record keeping, and the NWTF is working hard to increase its reach in the Pacific Northwest, the Sun Stewardship Project being part of that vital reach. To learn more or join us, go to www.nwTF.org