Help DNR’s nongame wildlife during tax time as donations decline
(Released March 29, 2012)
Approximately 80 percent of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Nongame Wildlife Program is funded by donations made on the “loon line” of the Minnesota income tax and the state property tax forms. Unfortunately these donations, which form the core of the program’s funding base, have been slowly declining.
“Without the continued support and interest of the public, there may not be a viable program in the future,” said Katie Haws, DNR Northwest Region nongame specialist. “This program works to restore and protect terrestrial and aquatic nongame habitats, survey endangered and nongame species and educate the public about nongame wildlife conservation.”
When the Nongame checkoff was first instituted in 1980, there were 138,609 individual donations. In 2010, the number of individuals donating had dropped to 52,697, although the amount contributed by each donor has increased steadily each year, from a low the first year of $3.34 to the 2010 high amount of $17.03. The bottom line is that the total dollars contributed has fallen in each of the past three years.
What does the decrease in Nongame checkoff donations mean? Fewer funds to protect, enhance and restore approximately 347 bird species, 80 mammal species, 48 reptile and amphibian species and other invertebrate species such as butterflies and dragonflies – those species that are not hunted, trapped or fished. Nongame wildlife species do not receive funding from hunting or fishing licenses and there are few alternative funding sources other than the Nongame checkoff.
The Northwest region of Minnesota is diverse in plant and animal communities. In fact, it is the only region in the state where all of the four Minnesota biomes, or biological communities, are found.
From the tallgrass aspen parkland and prairie grassland biomes to the coniferous and deciduous forest biomes, Nongame Wildlife Program projects in the northwest have benefited a wide variety of species. Such species range from swans to frogs, and eagles to mussels and dragonflies.
Priority nongame projects and successes in the area include:
Loons
The common loon was identified as one of the species in greatest need of conservation. With the help of more than 600 volunteers, the Minnesota Loon Monitoring Project, now in its 18th year, tracks the welfare of the common loon, Minnesota’s state bird, in six areas around Minnesota, two of which are in Otter Tail and Becker counties. Data from this long-term population monitoring study shows that despite some increasing risks factors, such as mercury and lead contamination, lakeshore development and most recently, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Minnesota loon population, range and rate of reproduction has remained fairly steady during this time period.
Bald Eagles
Bald eagles have been monitored throughout the state since 1978, and in 2005, the Nongame Wildlife Program completed a statewide inventory of the species. The Minnesota eagle population has increased 28 percent since 2000, with a current estimated statewide population of more than 1,312 nesting pairs. In the northwest, eagles continue to expand their range, now nesting in Clay and Mahnomen counties. Current threats to the growing population include lead poisoning from ingestion of lead fragments.
Trumpeter Swans
Trumpeter swans, extirpated until recently from the state, are a state-listed threatened species. Trumpeter swan restoration has been quite successful, beginning as a small project with a few hundred eggs from Alaska, the project has produced a free-flying swan population numbering more than 5,500 individual birds with likely more than 500 breeding pairs statewide. Swans now occupy wetlands in the northern third of the state.
Breeding Bird Atlas
The breeding bird atlas uses citizen observers to document bird breeding range in the state. Now in the fourth of five seasons, the results are exciting and astonishing, with many species, such as cardinal and black-billed magpie, showing large increases in their home ranges.
Many other Nongame projects benefit the northwestern part of the state, including:
■Piping plover, goshawk, osprey, grebe and common tern surveys.
■Dragonfly surveys.
■Frog and toad surveys.
■A recently completed “rare species guide” now available on the DNR website.
“I urge folks to consider sharing a part of their tax refund to the Nongame checkoff,” said Haws. “Your generosity will ensure that these valuable conservation projects can continue in the future.”
For more information about these projects, contact Katie Haws at 218-308-2641 or katie.haws@state.mn.us. For detailed information on Nongame Program conservation projects, go to
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/nongameThe DNR can also accept donations online to the Nongame Wildlife Fund. Visit
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/nongame/checkoff.html
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Topic: Help DNR’s nongame wildlife during tax time as donations decline (Read 1416 times)
