Frankfort, Kentucky - Kentucky farmers can earn extra cash in the Dove Field Hunt Program offered by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

Initiated in 1998, the Dove Field Hunt Program, formerly known as the Dove Field Lease Program, has been successful not only in providing expanded public hunting opportunities, but also in generating important new income for Kentucky farmers.

Fields planted in the spring specifically as prescribed for dove hunting next fall can generate as much as $2,500 for a landowner when leased to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for public hunting. Crops such as sunflowers or millet qualify, or an idle or fallow field planted to winter wheat also could be considered. By working with your local wildlife biologist, any field previously intended for silage production can easily become a dove-hunting field.

“Larger fields up to 20 acres are preferred. However, in the past, we have had some excellent smaller fields enrolled in the program. Therefore, all fields regardless of size will be evaluated and considered for the program,” said Migratory Bird Program Coordinator Rocky Pritchert.

Area farmers interested in the program should contact their local wildlife biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, or their Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) liaison no later than February 29.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists, NRCS liaisons and their contact information are listed on the department’s web site at fw.ky.gov. Click on “wildlife,” then “contacts.” You may also call the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Information Center during normal weekday working hours at 1-800-858-1549.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.8 billion annually. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The National Wild Turkey Federation has reached a milestone, having donated more than $1 million to the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the fight to protect hunting in America.

On Oct. 5 at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, Tammy Sapp, the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF)’s senior vice president of communications, presented a $100,000 check to Rick Story, senior vice president of the USSA.

The contribution makes NWTF one of the top donors of all time to the nation’s leading sportsmen’s rights advocacy organization.

“This benchmark speaks volumes about the NWTF and its deep and steadfast commitment to the defense of outdoor sports,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president & CEO. “Its investment in the battle to protect sportsmen’s rights has paid dividends for hunters from Maine to California.”

The NWTF and USSA have partnered on many projects to promote and protect hunting. The team, along with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, established the Families Afield program to eliminate unnecessary hunting age restrictions and ease hunter education mandates for first time hunters.

“Removing youth hunting barriers is one way to help ensure the future of our hunting heritage for generations to come,” said Rob Keck, CEO of the NWTF. “By fighting for sportsmen’s rights, the USSA is making a significant difference and we’re proud to support them.”

The NWTF has also fought alongside the USSA to ensure the defeat of ballot issues to ban bear hunting in Alaska and Maine and defeat legislation to ban dove hunting in California.

They have also defeated a bill that would have kicked sportsmen off of the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, replacing them with environmental and animal rights activists. In Ohio, the two organizations worked to protect dove hunting at the ballot box.

“The NWTF understands that the anti-hunting threats to dove hunting or bear hunting are the tip of the iceberg, and if one of those pastimes falls, the turkey hunters will be one of the next in line,” said Pidgeon. “Its support of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance demonstrates its commitment to the future of all hunting and wildlife conservation nationwide.”

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protect the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.

For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, ussportsmen.org.

CAPE COD, Mass. — The National Park Service has approved a plan to permit a century-old hunting tradition to resume on the Cape Cod National Seashore, a popular federal hunting area in New England.

On Oct. 12, the National Park Service announced the reinstatement of pheasant stocking at the Cape Cod National Seashore for the next 17 years and pheasant hunting indefinitely.

The agency will also increase upland bird habitat and establish a spring turkey hunt. The plans are part of a court-ordered environmental assessment of the Seashore’s hunting program.

“Since the anti-hunters filed suit five years ago to stop the hunt, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and sportsmen have encouraged the Park Service to do what it must to maintain Cape Cod’s hunting heritage, which has existed there since the early 1900s,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president & CEO. “The Foundation applauds the decision to maintain and augment hunting opportunities. It demonstrates that the sport is not a detriment to the Seashore.”

The issue was sparked by a federal suit that anti-hunting groups brought in 2002 to stop hunting on the Cape Cod National Seashore. The USSAF, along with the Massachusetts Sportsmen’s Council Inc., Barnstable County League of Sportsmen’s Clubs and sportsman Michael Veloza of Manomet, Massachusetts, joined the lawsuit to protect hunting on this and other federal land holdings.

The court ruled in 2003 that the pheasant program be halted while an Environmental Impact Statement was completed. The USSA urged the NPS to swiftly complete the EIS, and encouraged sportsmen to support options within the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that allowed the hunt.

Crisp, cool autumn weather signals the beginning of the upland bird hunting and waterfowl seasons. Don’t let this season go by without inviting family and friends out to hunt. Everyone will enjoy great dog work and challenging, hard flying birds.

Use NSSF’s portal Web site, www.huntandshoot.org, to locate a gamebird preserve near you. Companies in the hunting and shooting sports industries can help promote this great resource by including a link to HuntandShoot.org on their Web sites and in their catalogs. Learn more by contacting Dave Miles, NSSF’s director of marketing, at dmiles@nssf.org.