A RESURRECTED NATIVE: High County Struttin' Toms president Jim Tanner, left, and vice-president Brent Stannard pose with a stuffed wild male turkey. There are now about 100,000 such in southern Ontario from 274 released in the 1980s. Prior to 1984, the native birds had been virtually wiped out in Canada. Photo/WES KELLER Those magnificent birds you'll see swooping over the escarpment or foraging in the fields of Dufferin County were not here a quartercentury ago, but they were here in abundance a century ago when it was their home.

We're talking "turkey." Earlier generations apparently killed them all off in SPORTS this part of North America. Present generations, represented internationally by National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) and locally by High County Struttin' Toms, along with Anglers and Hunters and the Ontario ministry of Natural Resources have brought them back to life.

"In 1983, there were no wild turkeys (in Dufferin)," says Struttin'Toms president Jim Tanner of Amaranth. "They were pretty well wiped out in Canada."

Then, in 1984, '85 and '86, 274 of the birds were imported from Michigan. Today, there are an estimated 100,000 in Ontario's Mixedwood Plain region.

The Mixed-wood Plain is the smallest of six ecozones in Canada. It includes the southern Ontario area bounded by lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, from the Quebec border to Windsor, as well as a second small sector along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. SPORTS The rise of 100,000 or more turkeys in 20 years from an initial release of 274 might seem like quite a population explosion, but it didn't just happen without the continuing help of the groups and agencies that had restored the birds to their once-native habitat in the first place.

The first hunting season for turkeys in Ontario was in 1987 when, according to Jim, only 64 birds were harvested. That number rose to 10,341 in 2006. Apparently not every hunter bagged a bird: Jim said there had been 36,000 licenses issued in that year, at $22.50 a crack.

Mr. Tanner and his vicepresident, Brent Stannard of Orangeville, say the open season on turkeys is stringently controlled, and no hunter may take more than two birds - both adult males.

Hunters require specialized training, and "attendance at a seminar is mandatory for anyone wishing to hunt wild turkeys in Ontario for the first time." The nearest seminars are in Toronto, Barrie, Owen Sound and Waterloo.

Registrations are $35. Information is available at www.ofah.org/huntingresources/ index.cfm

Female turkeys, or hens, are protected under the law. Only adult males, or toms, may be harvested. Toms are generally distinguished by their long beards, but Brent says one in 100 females also have a beard.

The turkeys are thriving in spite of mankind's encroachment on their natural habitat, and their night-time vulnerability to predators.

With the turkey population now at a self-sustaining level, the 6,000 members of NWTF across Canada (including 125 in the Dufferin, High County, chapter) have turned their attention and money (including a recent $130,000 Trillium Fund grant) to improving habitat for the birds.

They can't do much about natural predators. Turkeys, like other fowl, roost at night, and cannot fly after dark. Prowlers and tree climbers such as raccoons will capture immature birds (known as jakes and jennies, or collectively as poults) but would be hard-pressed to take a mature tom who's accustomed to fighting other toms perhaps daily.

The Dufferin - High County Struttin' Toms chapter of NWTF is holding its ninth annual "Super Fund Banquet" at Orangeville Fairgrounds on March 31.

Information is available from Jim Tanner at 416-258- 1842 (his cell phone), or Brent Stannard at 519-942- 2012.

The doors to the centre in Mono will open at 5 p.m., and dinner is served at 6:30.

Memberships will be available at the banquet.

Background

In 1984, the NWTF, Ontario Ministry of Natural

Resources and Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters initiated a restoration program to reintroduce the wild turkey and conserve the habitat these birds need to survive. There are now at least 80,000 wild turkeys in Ontario's Mixedwood Plain Region, an area where wild turkeys were once native.

"People from my father's generation and other generations before me had never even seen a wild turkey in Ontario," said Randy Roloson, NWTF Canada board member and one of an estimated 24,000 turkey hunters in Ontario. "Right now, turkey hunting is one of the hottest forms of hunting in the province. With the growing popularity of turkey hunting in Ontario, hunters who have not had the opportunity to hunt turkeys in the past are now getting their chance. They're anxious to get out in the bush and actively communicate with the birds. It's a one-on-one battle."

Local Ontario chapters have completed a number of habitat and outreach projects this year including hunter safety training, tree and shrub planting, efforts to improve winter food sources for wildlife and land purchases for public hunting. The Huron Perth Chapter, the first NWTF chapter established in Canada and a leader in the province's grassroots conservation efforts, recently hosted their 10-year anniversary banquet. With over 600 people in attendance, the chapter raised needed funding to advance habitat work in the area.

"We have a job to do to help educate our communities on the wild turkey success story and create awareness of the NWTF and the significant role of this organization," said Ontario MNR wildlife biologist, Mike Malhoit, during a presentation honoring the chapter. "The Huron Perth Chapter has been a valuable partner of the MNR locally, and their efforts helped pave the way for the establishment of 34 more chapters in Ontario."

Other area habitat projects are being funded by more than $130,000 in grant dollars from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. NWTF Canada provided research to help secure the grant, which will work to maintain sustainable natural wildlife landscape in Brant County. Ontario's Big Creek Chapter is providing funds for an interactive, electronic display at Backus Mills Heritage Conservation Education Center. The display brings awareness to the conservation efforts of hunters.

For more information about habitat projects in Ontario and Canada, contact NWTF's wildlife biologist, Joel Pederson at (803) 637- 3106. For more information about the NWTF, call (800) THE-NWTF.