DNR QUESTION OF THE WEEK

[Lee Borgersen]

                DNR QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q:  Now is the time of year when Minnesota residents can contribute to the DNR's nongame wildlife checkoff fund.  What is this money used for and how does it help wildlife?

A:  Donations made to this fund are used by the DNR's nongame wildlife program to help protect and manage the state's "nongame" wildlife species, which includes more than 800 kinds of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, butterflies and selected invertebrates that are not traditionally hunted or harvested.  This also includes conservation efforts for threatened and endangered species.

Specifically, the species that have benefited from these efforts are loons, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons, eastern bluebirds, Blanding's turtles, bats, timber rattlesnakes, great blue herons and other waterbirds like egrets and grebes.  The money raised also helps acquire land and easements to protect habitat, manage prairies, forests and wetlands, create buffer zones along lakeshores, assist to private landowners and local governments with habitat management, and fund nature educational programs.

Contributions to the nongame wildlife checkoff fund can be made on the 2014 Minnesota tax form, or online at www.mndnr.gov/eco/nongame/checkoff.html.

- Carrol Henderson, DNR nongame wildlife program supervisor

[glenn57]

to me this is a good cause and I help do my part every year!!!!!!!!!!