PUT A SMILE ON YOUR TAXES - CONTRIBUTE TO COLORADO’S WILDLIFE
Taxpayers in Colorado can contribute to wildlife and the environmental quality of our state by simply checking the non-game box on their state tax forms and writing in the amount they want to contribute.
Since 2000, 270,000 state taxpayers have contributed nearly $2.8 million to conservation efforts of the Colorado Division of Wildlife through the non-game check-off program.
“One contribution on a tax return won’t guarantee the restoration of a species, but many contributions help to guarantee that the DOW’s important wildlife conservation work will continue,” said Tim Holeman, chief of public affairs for the wildlife agency.
If you don’t buy hunting or fishing licenses, the check-off is an easy way to support Colorado’s conservation efforts.
Non-license buyers can also purchase a Colorado Habitat Stamp for $10.25. Th stamp, available on-line and where every licenses are sold gives the buyer access to more than 200 state wildlife areas and includes the annual search and rescue fee.
Money contributed to the DOW through the tax check-off program goes to wildlife conservation work that concentrates on non-game species. The DOW has thrived in bolstering the health and populations of numerous non-game species. Since 1978, 19 species in Colorado have been down-listed from a threatened or endangered status or de-listed entirely.
Species whose status has changed, some due to actions by the DOW, include: the boreal toad, wood frog, Rio Grande cutthroat Trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout, greenback cutthroat trout, Arkansas darter, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, American peregrine falcon, greater sage-grouse, mountain plover, black-tailed prairie dog, white-tailed prairie dog, Gunnison’s prairie dog, swift fox, Douglas County pocket gopher, Rocky Mountain capshell snail and the white pelican.
Said Holeman, “In Colorado, one little check goes a long way for wildlife.”
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.