Erika
Lentz: Return of the wild one
01:00
AM EST on Thursday, November 24, 2005
Providence Journal Bulletin
THE TURKEY is
on center stage today, symbol of a holiday dedicated to family, friends,
and gratitude. But turkeys -- here, the wild kind -- also symbolize
successful applied science.
If it seems to
you that turkeys are now everywhere in Rhode Island, you're not far
off. Wild turkeys currently occupy 500 of the state's 1,000 square
miles, or roughly half its area. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management estimates the fall-2004 population at 6,000 birds. They
are on roadsides, at the edge of forests, in farm fields, even in
our backyards.
Hunters love
these numbers; in each of the last two seasons, they have bagged more
than 200 birds. And more than 50 of those caught last year weighed
over 20 pounds. A happy dinner, indeed!
Although wild-turkey
populations have increased dramatically, the birds were only recently
reintroduced to Rhode Island, where -- owing to hunting and loss of
habitat -- they had become extinct by the mid-1700s.
Not until 1980
did they return, when the Environmental Management Department captured
29 wild birds in Vermont and released them in Exeter. In the mid-1990s,
the department released 108 birds, at six other sites. As early as
1997, the Rhode Island turkeys had reached an estimated population
of 3,000.
The turkeys,
for their part, have learned to live closer to humans -- in this way
reclaiming much of the habitat that they long ago involuntarily surrendered.
The Environmental Management Department and hunters now carefully
manage the state's population, by restricting the hunting season and
the number of birds taken annually.
The successful
restoration of wild turkeys is one of the most conspicuous signs of
careful wildlife management. The funding used to restore and manage
turkey populations comes via the Pittman-Robertson Act, part of the
1937 Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Through an excise tax
on sporting arms and ammunition, the act has provided funds for numerous
wildlife-restoration programs.
Ecosystem management
is now the name of the game. Whether by keeping invasive species in
check, controlling nuisance insects and other pests, rehabilitating
damaged habitats, or -- as with the wild turkey -- reintroducing extirpated
species, human intervention has proven critical. Passivity will not
protect our natural beauty.
So when you see
that flock of wild turkeys, revel in all that it symbolizes -- including
the successful stewardship of our environment.
Erika Lentz
is a fellow of the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Institute.