[ODFW-News] Tax Checkoff contributions help Oregon wildlife and habitats

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife  
Contact: Meg Kenagy (503) 947-6021 
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  Fax: (503) 947-6009
 
For Immediate Release Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006
 
Tax Checkoff contributions help Oregon wildlife and habitats
 
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 m 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.


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