Nearly 70 years of turkey science is now available to the public
The Wildlife Society Bulletin now hosts nearly 70 years of the National Wild Turkey Federation Symposium proceedings. Ranging from the federation’s first symposium in 1959 to this year’s meeting, the publications highlight the best in wild turkey science from around the country.
“I am very excited about the partnership between the National Wild Turkey Federation and The Wildlife Society,” said Bret Collier, the editor-in-chief of the Wildlife Society Bulletin (WSB) and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) researcher. “With TWS and NWTF working together to share the symposium, I hope that the increase in access and utilization by the wildlife conservation community will be rapid and increase the focus on wild turkey conservation in the U.S.”
Since 2022, the National Wild Turkey Symposium has already transitioned to a special section in WSB. “Moving forward, both the historic and future works will continue to be available for years to come,” Collier said.
Historically, proceedings manuscripts have been difficult to access, and there have been few avenues for widespread distribution. Collier thinks that by increasing access to the manuscripts, scientists and conservationists could leverage past knowledge in new and exciting ways. He hopes that the diverse membership of TWS, including those working in research, management and policy, will find the proceedings useful.
And it’s not just wild turkey conservation that will benefit, Collier said. “The ability to have a holistic view of the entirety of wild turkey science will provide a broad-ranging foundation for conservation of not only wild turkeys but also a variety of other upland wildlife species across the United States.”
TWS Chief Program Officer Cameron Kovach is also excited to see the partnership grow between TWS and NWTF. “I hope the success of this collaboration inspires many more partnerships between TWS and other organizations that prioritize wildlife conservation and management,” Kovach said. “Our journals exist to be a hub for this type of important scientific research, and we’re eager to use our resources and network to make it more accessible to scientists everywhere.”
“Too often, manuscripts published in proceedings aren’t taken seriously due to the inherent difficulties in accessing proceedings unless your library were to have a hard copy,” Collier said. “By digitally providing these works to the TWS community, the next generation of wild turkey professionals—and anyone interested in upland game management—can easily access and utilize the historic record.”
This article features research that was published in a TWS peer-reviewed journal. Individual online access to all TWS journal articles is a benefit of membership. Join TWS now to read the latest in wildlife research.
