Check off for Wildlife 2011

Line 58: Check it to help New Jersey’s Rare Wildlife

By Margaret O’Gorman, Executive Director

It’s tax season again and if you have not yet completed and filed your tax return, please consider making a donation to rare wildlife through the Income Tax Check-Off option available to all New Jersey filers.

It’s a simple way to give – just look for Line 58 on your state income tax 1040 form, ask your tax preparer to do it or, wait to be prompted by software like Turbo Tax. You can choose from a series of set amounts or decide if you want to contribute more or less than suggested.

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) © George Cevera

Your contributions are used to support the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, the small but dedicated band of wildlife biologists and technicians that protect the state’s rarest species from extinction and help keep imperiled species off the Endangered Species List.

In the past, revenue from the check-off has supported the recovery of the bald eagle and osprey, restoration for the bog turtle and research for New Jersey’s bat population. Your contribution through this state program makes a huge difference.

According to a press release from the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, “For more than 30 years, income tax check off donations has paid wildlife dividends. Some examples:

  • New Jersey biologists restored our bald eagle population from one nest in 1979 to 82 nesting pairs today.
  • New Jersey biologists have led the international effort to prevent the Western Hemisphere extinction of the red knot, which depends on the eggs of spawning Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs they devour in New Jersey each spring to fuel an epic migration from their South American breeding grounds to Canadian Arctic nesting grounds.
  • The bobcat was reintroduced in New Jersey 30 years ago, and research and protection efforts since then have allowed this secretive cat to establish a foothold in the northern third of the state.
  • More than 30 years of intensive management and cooperative efforts with coastal communities have prevented the State extinction of three New Jersey beach nesting birds, the piping plover, least tern and black skimmer.
  • Peregrine falcons disappeared from New Jersey in the 1960’s but through a reintroduction project and intensive management we now have a stable population of 20 nesting pairs statewide.”

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey works closely with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program to carry out these projects and we can attest to the fact that these passionate biologists stretch every penny as far as it will go to make sure that your contributions are invested wisely.

This year, when you’re filing your New Jersey State Income Tax form, please check-off for wildlife and support the hardworking biologists that help keep wildlife in our future.