Tax checkoff supports threatened and endangered species recovery

February 28, 2024  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Rue anemone wildflower. Photo by Warren Bielenberg/Great Smokey Mountain National Park

As Vermonters prepare to file their 2023 tax returns, state Fish & Wildlife officials remind them to consider checking off the spot to contribute to Vermont’s Nongame Wildlife Fund.

The fund, one of several on the state income tax return, funds conservation efforts and restoration of some of Vermont’s most at-risk wildlife from bumblebees and butterflies to mussels, birds and mammals. 

“Nongame Checkoff 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 Rosalind Renfrew, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Diversity Program Manager.

For more than 35 years, Vermont’s Nongame Tax Checkoff has been helping to recover species that were once on the brink of extinction in Vermont such as the common loon, osprey and peregrine falcons. Most recently, the bald eagle was removed from Vermont’s list of endangered species in 2022. The Nongame Wildlife Fund supported their reintroduction at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area and years of monitoring and nest protection to ensure that eagle numbers were robust enough to declare the species recovered.

Eastern meadowlark. Photo by Tyler Pockette

“Every dollar Vermonters donate to Nongame Wildlife Fund on their taxes is nearly tripled,” Renfrew said. “Public donations leverage matching federal grants, meaning that every dollar donated secures another $2 to $3 in federal funds for Vermont’s wildlife.”

In 2022, the eastern meadowlark was listed as threatened and the rue anemone wildflower was listed as endangered. Pictured, here, both species will benefit from Nongame Wildlife Fund tax checkoff donations.

“Last year saw species like the eastern meadowlark and rue anemone wildflower added to Vermont’s threatened and endangered species list, and we’re already taking action to support their populations,” Renfrew said. “The Nongame Checkoff is one of the most direct ways Vermonters can conserve Vermont’s biodiversity.”

In addition to the Nongame Wildlife Fund, the Vermont tax return form allows taxpayers to support Green Up Vermont, the Vermont Children’s Trust Fund and the Vermont Veterans Fund. More information is online on the Vermont Tax Department website.