2/16/2006

Nongame wildlife need dollars

If you care about songbirds, river otters and other nongame wildlife, the best time of year to help them is right now. Just write in the proper code on your 2005 Utah State Income Tax form and donate the amount you want to give to the Utah Nongame Wildlife Fund.

The code for the fund is 01. The code and dollar amount you want to give can be written on any line between 21a–21f on the tax form. Then write your total contribution on line 21.

Nongame wildlife need funding

"Most Utahns don't realize it, but hunters and anglers provide almost all of the funding to manage wildlife in Utah," said Greg Sheehan, Administrative Services Section chief for the Division of Wildlife Resources. "They provide this funding when they purchase hunting and fishing licenses and pay special taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. Because most of the money we receive comes from sportsmen, it's used almost entirely to benefit wildlife that people can hunt or fish for."

Sheehan says the money received through the nongame tax checkoff is used entirely to help wildlife for which people don't hunt or fish. "For people who care about nongame wildlife, the tax checkoff is a convenient and easy way to help," he said.

How nongame wildlife money is used

Last year, Utah taxpayers gave $23,964 to the Utah Nongame Wildlife Fund. The funds were used to support several important programs that benefit nongame wildlife.

The DWR's nongame avian program uses the money to fund surveys of raptor and songbird populations in Utah. The management decisions biologists make through the information they obtain helps ensure birds as common as yellow warblers and American robins, and as rare as peregrine falcons and yellow-billed cuckoos, will thrive for years to come.

Biologists have also used the money to learn how much habitat is available in Utah to support Mexican spotted owls. They've developed this habitat model using GIS technology and results from nearly 15 years spent surveying owls in Utah's remote canyons.

Biologists in the DWR's nongame mammals program use these contributions to help endangered and sensitive species. Through their work, river otters now live in southern Utah, a black-footed ferret population is being established in the northeastern part of the state and important information is being gathered about pygmy rabbits and prairie dogs.

"We appreciate every dollar we receive from Utah taxpayers," said Kevin Bunnell, mammals coordinator for the DWR. "The more funding we receive, the more we can do to help these animals and keep them off the federal Endangered Species list."

If you've already filed your taxes

If you've already filed your taxes, there's still a way to help. The DWR accepts donations for nongame wildlife throughout the year. These donations can be sent to Division of Wildlife Resources, P.O. Box 146301, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84114-6301. Please indicate, either on the check or on a note attached to the check, that the money is for Utah's Nongame Wildlife Fund.

"We encourage everyone who wants to help Utah's nongame wildlife to donate," Sheehan said. "It's a great way to get a good feeling during tax time or anytime during the year."

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