Chickadee Check-off Gets a Boost

Chickadee Check-off Gets a Boost

The numbers are in. In early March we used the new GovDelivery system to deliver a message to Mainers that their volunteer contributions to State tax-form Chickadee Check-off were steadily waning. You responded. For the first time since 1996, the number of annual donations increased substantially: from 2,357 to 3,021, which is an increase of about 28% participation. The amount donated increased from $29,454 to $38,623.

While the average contribution of $12.78 may not seem like much money, it is one of the highest average contributions in the country. Nearly all states use this funding mechanism for their conservation programs for threatened wildlife species.

Funds from the Chickadee Check-off and Loon Plates are deposited directly into Maine’s dedicated Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund, and by law, can only be used for conservation efforts for these species.  When used as match for a federal grant, your money is essentially doubled or tripled.  This is how the Department’s efforts for the conservation of endangered, threatened, and species of special concern are funded.

To put into perspective how far a relatively small amount of money from the Chickadee Check-off can go, consider that just within the last year, monies from the federal State Wildlife Grant matched with funds from the Check-Off have funded projects directed at conserving a plethora of species including, but not limited to: bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, loons, piping plovers, great blue herons, purple sandpipers, Canada lynx, threatened bats, New England cottontail, Blanding’s turtles, spotted turtles, Roaring Brook mayflies, Clayton’s copper butterflies, and several rare freshwater mussels. Funds from the Check-Off have also gone to citizen-science projects like the Maine Butterfly Survey and the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlasing Project.

To view an annual Research & Management (R&M) Report compiled and published by IFW to, in part, document how funding for conservation of your wildlife heritage gets generated and used, visit: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/reports/research_management.html .

Our webpage has a new face, and one nice feature can be found on the front-page that is our annual reports to the Legislature that include a status report on your dedicated Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund.

Thank you for helping us to conserve wildlife for all uses and experiences, both now and for the future.

If you need further information, please visit www.mefishwildlife.com or call (207) 287-8000.