Tax check-off supports endangered species, Green Up, kids and vets
Feb. 9, 2023 | By Waterbury Roundabout This tax season, Vermonters can easily contribute to several charitable causes using the check-off spot on the Vermont state income tax form.
Organizations on the form by law are Green Up Vermont, the Vermont Children’s Trust Fund, the Vermont Nongame Wildlife Fund and the Vermont Veterans Fund. Taxpayers may contribute to one or more in an amount of their choosing specified on the form.
Green Up Vermont is the nonprofit that organizes the annual volunteer trash cleanup of roadsides, parks and public areas around the state on the first Saturday in May.
Polar Express Photo by Stephen Mease Photography
The Vermont Children’s Trust Fund uses tax-form donations for its grant program to support after-school programs, child care and preschool programs, literacy, parenting, mentoring and teen programs, and substance abuse prevention programs. The organization is known for hosting the annual Polar Express event in Burlington.
Created in 2010, the Vermont Veterans Fund provides grants and support for U.S. service veterans such as long-term care, transportation, aid for homeless veterans and advocacy for disabled veterans. The fund also has covered the costs for uniforms and materiel for a veterans honor guard attending military funerals.
Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 20202 at Rusty Parker Memorial Park's war memorial monuments. Photo by Gordon Miller.
The Vermont Nongame Wildlife Fund supports conservation and restoration of some of the state’s most at-risk wildlife such as the lake sturgeon and Northern long-eared bats.
“Every dollar Vermonters donate to Nongame Wildlife Fund on their taxes is nearly tripled,” says Rosalind Renfrew, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Diversity Program Manager. “Donations are leveraged by matching federal grants, meaning that every dollar donated secures another $2 in federal funds for Vermont’s wildlife.”
For over 35 years Vermont’s Nongame Tax Check-off has been helping to recover species that were once on the brink of extinction in Vermont, including the common loon, osprey, and peregrine falcon. Most recently, the bald eagle was removed from Vermont’s list of endangered species in 2022 after years of monitoring and nest protection.
In 2022, the rue anemone wildflower (photo by Warren Bielenberg/Great Smokey Mountain National Park) was listed as endangered. Photo courtesy Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept.
The Eastern meadowlark (photo by Tyler Pockette) last year was listed as a threatened species. Photo courtesy Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept.
“Nongame check-off donations have made possible some of our greatest conservation success stories, and they continue to fund front-line work on behalf of our most at-risk species,” said Renfrew. “Last year saw species like the Eastern meadowlark and rue anemone wildflower added to Vermont’s threatened and endangered species list. The nongame check-off is one of the most direct ways Vermonters can conserve Vermont’s biodiversity.”