How We Give Back
Every ticket you buy funds real, on-the-ground conservation across Tennessee; protecting habitat, wildlife, and our outdoor heritage for generations to come.
Real Projects. Real Conservation.
Every ticket purchased through the Wildlife Conservation Raffle helps fund projects that protect Tennessee’s land, wildlife, and outdoor heritage. From acquiring critical habitat to building infrastructure that supports wildlife research, your support goes directly toward meaningful, on-the-ground work across the state.
North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area
The North Cumberland is the largest actively managed Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in the state of Tennessee. It is almost 200,000 acres of mountainous terrain expanding across five East Tennessee counties: Morgan, Scott, Anderson, Campbell, and Claiborne.
The Management Area is currently divided into four management units: the New River Unit, the Royal Blue Unit, the Sundquist Unit, and the Ed Carter Unit. Recreational activities include hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, camping, OHV trails, hiking, sightseeing, and a shooting range.
The Wildlife Conservation Raffle provided funding to acquire 1,322 additional acres for the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area to increase public hunting opportunities and provide critical habitat for wildlife, especially elk.
CWD Work Base
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease affecting the deer family, discovered in southwest Tennessee in 2018. TWRA identified it through a statewide surveillance program, where hunters and processors submit samples from harvested deer across all 95 counties. Once submitted, the samples — over 20,000 in some years — go through a rigorous, multi-step process conducted by TWRA staff before being shipped to the testing laboratory.
Funding from the Wildlife Conservation Raffle was instrumental in completing a $2.5 million CWD work base in Jackson, TN. The work base serves as the central office for the CWD work crew, where they process samples for the surveillance operations that inform TWRA’s management decisions.
Yuchi Refuge
The Smith Bend/Yuchi Refuge is a unique 2,500-acre tract on the Tennessee River, with three miles of riverfront, 1,000 acres of wetland, and 1,500 acres of upland forest.
Yuchi Refuge is home to almost every species of wildlife native to the region, and is especially important for Sandhill cranes and waterfowl. Extensive grasslands provide ample habitat for shrubland and grassland birds, and the site holds unique habitats not found elsewhere in the region, such as cedar glades and prairie grasslands. It offers some of the very best opportunities to see a wide array of birds and butterflies.
The Wildlife Conservation Raffle provided funding for the purchase of a 170-acre tract to expand the Yuchi Refuge in 2025.
Rarity Mountain
The Wildlife Conservation Raffle will provide funding for the purchase of 2,133 acres known as the Rarity Mountain tracts adjacent to the High Cliff Unit of North Cumberland WMA, Campbell County. The acquisition, scheduled for 2026, is highly desirable as it contains early-successional wildlife habitat for a variety of species including elk, and it provides additional public access for the region.
