Auntie Turkey

Let's try a thought experiment.

Since teabaggers like Ann Marie Buerkle always like to talk about how they oppose government regulation, we decided to investigate what happens when a particular area is left to its own devices.

Take a look at the history of the Eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo sylvestris), which became virtually extinct in New York State by the mid-1840s.

Except in the western end of the Southern Tier, where wild turkeys had returned in small but stable numbers a hundred years later, there was no wild population anywhere in the state through the late 1950s.

In 1959 the State Conservation Department (now the DEC) began a modest program of capturing healthy birds in the Allegheny forest and creating sustainable flocks which were released throughout the state south of the Adirondacks. After a time these flocks caught hold and have flourished since. NY now cooperates with other states to help them restore their flocks of wild turkeys. Today our wild turkey population is robust.

This success is sustained by strongly regulating the harvest of wild turkeys during spring and fall seasons. The population of wild turkeys is closely monitored by state biologists.

Are you wondering what would happen if market forces were unbridled and wild turkey hunting were unregulated? 

As it happens, we already know the answer to that question. By 1840 turkeys were in such a precarious position in part because much of their natural range had been cleared for farming and, more importantly, they were hunted throughout the year until they were gone (similarly the bison and the passenger pigeon).

We fear that if Ann Marie Buerkle were a NY state conservation official she would deregulate and destroy our hard-won protections of land and natural resources. Alas, the natural world, including wild turkeys, would not be able to fend for itself.