Ron Eakes of Alabama Wins Lifetime Achievement Award For Excellence in Conservation

Ron Eakes of Alabama Wins Lifetime Achievement Award For Excellence in Conservation


National Wild Turkey Federation


EDGEFIELD, S.C. -- Ron Eakes of Trinity, Ala., earned the NWTF's prestigious Wayne Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award for his life-long commitment to conservation.
Eakes accepted the award during the NWTF's 36th annual National Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn. MidwayUSA was the official show sponsor.
"I was floored to even be considered for this award," Eakes said. "For 40 years I have been studying conservation, volunteering for conservation projects or participating on a professional level. Being honored with this award for simply following my passion means the world to me."
A biologist who recently retired from the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Eakes received the award to honor his 27 years of conservation work that played an important part in restoring wild turkey populations in North America.
"Wayne Bailey was known to many as the godfather of modern turkey management and was a key player in the development of the NWTF," said James Earl Kenammer, Ph.D., NWTF's chief conservation officer. "Ron's work is the embodiment of what Wayne Bailey stood for and he truly deserves this honor. The NWTF could ask for no better partner."
Eakes has a long history of collaborating with the NWTF. He served on the NWTF Technical Committee for 15 years and worked with the Alabama NWTF board of directors on a range of projects. Eakes played an important role in the acquisition of public hunting lands by the Alabama DCNR and the Alabama State Chapter of the NWTF, which purchased 22,000 acres for public use over a 10-year period.
The NWTF is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey, upland habitat and preserving our hunting heritage.
Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $372 million to conserve 17 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.