SALEM – Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials today reminded Oregonians that checking the Nongame Wildlife Fund box on their state income tax form allows them to become partners in the conservation of the state’s wildlife.

Funding for Oregon game species is covered through federal grants and license fees. However, there is no suitable, stable funding source to manage the 88 percent of Oregon’s birds, mammals and fish that are not hunted, angled or trapped.

"For many people bird watching and wildlife viewing are important benefits of living in Oregon,” said Martin Nugent, ODFW Wildlife Diversity Program manager. "Donations to the Fund allow us to implement wildlife conservation and habitat restoration projects to conserve these natural resources for the enjoyment of all."

Wildlife viewing is an important source of income to Oregon’s businesses. According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study, residents and visitors spent $769 million on wildlife viewing in Oregon in 2001.

ODFW considers Nongame Wildlife Fund checkoff donations critically important to its programs, because these donations allow the agency to apply for matching federal funds, multiplying the dollars. Last year about two percent of Oregon taxpayers donated a total of $130,000 to the fund.

Since its inception in 1979, donations to the Nongame Wildlife Fund have helped recover American peregrine falcon and bald eagle populations. Funds also have been used to develop conservation programs for sensitive species like western pond turtles, Willamette Valley grassland birds, yellow-legged frogs, Townsend's big-eared bats, and white-headed woodpecker. The money funds programs to improve wildlife habitats on both private and public lands, and provides statewide opportunities to watch, photograph, study and appreciate wildlife in its natural setting.

Nongame biologists and partners are involved with a number of ongoing projects including raptor nest monitoring, bat cave exit counts, great blue heron rookery monitoring, swift migration monitoring, red-legged frog habitat restoration, wintering shorebird habitat use research, bald eagle surveys and riparian songbird research.

For more information, visit the ODFW Web site, www.dfw.state.or.us.