Support the Rare Wild Things on Your State Tax Form

[FishNews]

MassWildlife's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) was removed from the state's operating budget in 2004. Since then the NHESP has been funded by project-specific bond monies, fees, federal grants, and voluntary contributions. A major source of funding for the protection of rare and endangered species in Massachusetts comes from voluntary tax refund donations. Since 1983, Massachusetts tax filers have had the option of donating to MassWildlife's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Fund while filing their state income tax form (Line 32). All contributions go to the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Fund, which currently is the source for a significant portion of the annual operating budget of the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. Over 20,000 tax filers support the program each year. When you contribute to the fund, you help to protect and restore rare and endangered animals, plants, and their habitats. Past donations have helped conserve and restore in the Commonwealth populations of the Bald Eagle, Hessel's Hairstreak butterfly, the Redbelly Cooter, and the beautiful Eastern Silvery Aster. If you have made a contribution in this manner, thank you for supporting the Program and its conservation efforts! Contributions can also be made directly to the fund by sending a check payable to the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Fund to: Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, 1 Rabbit Hill Rd, Westborough, MA 01581.