Press Release: Remember DF&G Research at Tax Time!

California Department of Fish and Game News Release

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : April 8, 2010

Contact: Lorna Bernard, Marketing Specialist, (916) 322–8937

Remember Wildlife at Tax Time

Californians can receive tax credit from the Franchise Tax Board for helping
wildlife — really!

More than 300 species of California wildlife are currently listed as
endangered or threatened, and hundreds more are at risk. California
taxpayers can support the Department of Fish and Games (DFG) Rare and
Endangered Species Preservation program by donating a few dollars to this
dedicated fund on Line 403 of the state tax Form 540.

“The generous donations we receive from taxpayers are critical to our
endangered species research and monitoring efforts, said Dale Steele, DFG
Non-Game Wildlife Program Manager. These funds have provided critical
support for many state-listed endangered species such as the Swainsons hawk,
island fox, California condor, Bakersfield cactus, California tiger
salamander and many more.

California is one of 41 states that allow taxpayers to make a voluntary,
tax-deductible contribution to one or more worthwhile causes in the
Contributions section of their state return. Since 1983 the tax check-off
fund for Rare and Endangered Species has raised more than $17 million and
supported numerous projects, including the identification of a
previously-unknown population of the California black rail, a rare and
elusive bird found in the eastern foothills of the Sacramento Valley. The
discovery has allowed wildlife biologists to focus restoration attention on
the rails foothill wetland habitat to help conserve the species.

In 2007, a new tax check-off fund was created to specifically benefit the
California sea otter, which is on both the state and federal threatened
species lists. Saved from the brink of extinction in recent decades, sea
otters are extremely vulnerable to boat strikes and non-point-source
pollution such as urban and agricultural runoff. A recent decline in their
population has been linked to Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite carried in
possum and cat feces.

This tax check-off program is the only fundraiser dedicated to researching
the reasons behind prime-age adult sea otters deaths, said Dave Jessup,
senior wildlife veterinarian with DFGs Office of Spill Prevention and
Response. “We’ve already been able to determine its not a simple problem of
one disease, one pesticide or issue. Now were looking at which contributing
factors can be better controlled, reduced or regulated. The tax check-off
funds allow us to keep the research program going.”

You can support this research by making a contribution on Line 410 of your
state tax form 540, the California Sea Otter Fund. More information on the
Rare and Endangered Species tax-check off program is available at
www.dfg.ca.gov/taxcheck. DFG has partnered with Defenders of Wildlife to
help promote the Sea Otter Fund. An excellent video about the sea otters
current plight is on their Web site, www.defenders.org; keywords “tax
check-off”.

- Subscribe to DFG News via e-mail or RSS feed — go to
www.dfg.ca.gov/news
- Subscribe (or unsubscribe) to DFG Marine Region News Service (e-mail
notification of ocean-related news and information) at
www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/subscribe.asp .