• By the late 1800s, wild turkeys were extirpated from Maine due to loss of habitat and unregulated hunting.
• In 1977, 41 wild turkeys were trapped in Vermont and shipped to southern Maine to begin the state’s successful restoration efforts.
• Today, there are more than 40,000 wild turkeys in Maine, including healthy populations near both Canadian borders, Quebec and New Brunswick.
• In 1986, Maine opened its first spring turkey-hunting season in York County; today there is spring hunting in nearly all counties.
• The Maine state chapter commissioned Ron Clough of Close Calls to create 12 custom box calls. The calls will be raffled and auctioned at local banquets this summer to commemorate the 30th anniversary.

Visit http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/press_releases.php?id=12143 for the entire story.

For more information about turkey restoration in Maine, contact Mark Olis or Jonathan Harling at (803) 637-3106, molis@nwtf.net or jharling@nwtf.net.