Turkeys are more than just a Thanksgiving meal, they’re part of forest ecosystems across the country. In this episode of Possibly, we take a look at how they made a major comeback in New England after being driven to local extinction.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Where I live in Rhode Island, turkeys are more than just a Thanksgiving treat, they’re a neighbor. I feel like I see them everywhere – including wandering the streets near my house. But they haven’t always been doing so well. In fact, wild turkeys were locally extinct for many decades.
Possibly reporters Will Malloy and Nat Hardy took a look into how they made their comeback.
Will Malloy: Hi Megan!
Nat Hardy: Hello!
Megan Hall: So turkeys – where did they go and how did they come back?
Will Malloy: Like you, Megan, I was surprised to learn that there were no turkeys in Rhode Island as recently as the 1980s – my friends and I even saw a bunch running around in the road the other day.
Nat Hardy: Lizzi Bonczek, Upland Game Bird Biologist for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, says that turkeys are a natural part of our environment.
Lizzi Bonczek: Before colonial settlement, there was just vast amounts of of woods.
Will Malloy: Indigenous people used practices like controlled burns to keep the forests in a mix of different stages. Most areas had thick woods with parts cleared for farming.
Nat Hardy: This kind of mix gave turkeys different places to search for food, nest, and raise their chicks.
Will Malloy: But when European settlers arrived, they clear-cut about two-thirds of the state’s forests for farming.
Nat Hardy: Which was bad news for the turkeys.
Will Malloy: Plus, early settlers hunted them for food and over time, turkey populations shrunk. By the early 1900s, there were no turkeys left in Rhode Island.
Nat Hardy: And the same thing happened all over New England.
Lizzi Bonczek: Vermont, Maine, Connecticut. Crazy to think about. No turkeys on the landscape.
Megan Hall: That’s unbelievable! How did they come back?
Will Malloy: Lots of people abandoned their farms, which gradually turned back into forests. Rhode Island also introduced hunting rules that protected wildlife.
Nat Hardy: In the 1960s, many New England states began to reintroduce turkeys, hoping that those forests were strong enough to support them again.
Will Malloy: And in 1980, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the National Wild Turkey Federation teamed up to release 29 turkeys in Exeter, Rhode Island.
Megan: Wait, where did they get those turkeys?
Nat Hardy: From Vermont actually! A decade earlier, the state had relocated a flock of turkeys from New York. And so by 1980 even Vermont had turkeys to spare!
Megan Hall: So they literally caught a flock of turkeys there and brought them into Rhode Island?
Will Malloy: Yes!
Megan Hall: How did the turkeys do?
Will Malloy: Pretty well, actually.
Nat Hardy: The state kept the program going and released flocks around the state over the next 10 years.
Will Malloy: And since then the population has continued to grow. But scientists are still keeping a close eye on the turkeys, to make sure they’re doing ok.
Megan Hall: So I guess this is a success story?
Nat Hardy: Yeah! For sure.
Will Malloy: First of all, it’s a great example of how states can work together to solve environmental and ecological problems.
Lizzi Bonczek: The reintroduction, really was this whole regional collaboration between, the states that have turkeys, the states that don’t have turkeys, the federal agencies that oversee these laws.
Nat Hardy: Plus, Lizzi says, there’s just something that feels good about living in a place where you get to see all sorts of animals, in your own neighborhood!
Lizzi Bonczek: And so I was driving along, and I noticed in the woodline there was a flock of turkeys. They were all kind of in the shade, and I just, like, sat there for a while with my binoculars and just watched them be turkeys. One was sitting on a log, preening another one. They’re kind of, you know, poking around, probably looking for seeds or bugs. There’s that, right, intrinsic value I was talking about, of just enjoying watching wildlife be wild.
Will Malloy: So, when I’m eating turkey this Thanksgiving, I’ll be feeling a little extra grateful for these guys.
Megan Hall: Same here. Thanks Will and Nat!
That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X at “askpossibly”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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