Why Wisconsin’s Wildlife Depends on Your Tax Form | Image Source: www.stcroix360.com
MADISON, Wisconsin, April 2, 2025 – Every spring, as the Wisconsinites give pores on their tax documents, an often too long-awaited opportunity to make a lasting impact is on List 3, Part 1a: an opportunity to return to the wild heart of the state. This small check box – an online article entitled “Resources at Risk” - is actually a lifeline for the most vulnerable species in Wisconsin.
What is the Resource at Risk Fund and why is it important?
Managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Fund for Threatened Resources provides support for the conservation of the rarest fauna and flora in the State. According to the DNR, more than 400 animal species and more than 300 plant species in Wisconsin are at risk, threatened or declining in the population. From the delicate orchid bordered by eastern prairie to the bald eagle, these living symbols of state biodiversity owe in part their survival to this crucial context.
Drew Feldkirchner, Director of the Natural Heritage Conservation Office of the DNR, said: “When supporting the Threatened Resources Fund, it supports our team’s field conservation efforts and helps us work with volunteers and partners to prevent the loss of species in our state
Every dollar, he emphasized, supports tangible, local work that helps nature rebound.
How are donations used?
Funds paid through government tax forms are used in a variety of practical and innovative ways. DNR takes advantage of these contributions to:
- Train citizen scientists and volunteers
- Conduct field research and monitoring
- Manage and restore critical habitats
- Develop disease-fighting solutions for vulnerable species
Perhaps more striking, the context not only supports passive observation, but also improves action. For example, biologists use donations to test the first trials of wild vaccines for small brown bats, whose populations collapsed due to white nose syndrome, a fatal fungal disease. It also allows land managers to control invasive species that threaten indigenous ecosystems in hundreds of natural areas of the state.
What species are difficult?
Several successes and ongoing battles underscore the importance of sustained support. Examples include:
- Bald Eagles: Once near extinction, the iconic bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback thanks to a combination of federal and state protections, habitat cleanups, and local nest monitoring efforts supported by the fund.
- Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid: With just a few populations remaining in Wisconsin, this rare orchid is being monitored and protected through habitat management and volunteer support made possible by tax-time donations.
- Rusty Patched Bumble Bee: The first bee to be listed as federally endangered, this vital pollinator is now largely surviving in Wisconsin, where volunteers and DNR experts are actively working to preserve its habitat.
- Little Brown Bat: Known for controlling mosquito populations, these bats are now part of cutting-edge research to curb white-nose syndrome, with donor funding enabling wild vaccine trials.
Each of these stories shows how small acts of giving can produce derived returns for nature and public well-being.
How do I make a donation using my tax form?
The donation is simple and does not require a separate form. To complete your Wisconsin income tax return, see the “Gifts” line and select ”Experience Threatened” from List 3, Part 1a (for both resident and non-resident forms).
If you are using tax software or a tax program, simply indicate that you would like to contribute to the Resources at Risk Fund. And even if you have already submitted your taxes, it is not too late, donations made separately continue to equal the dollar to the dollar.
Yes, you read this right: each gift is equal to 1: 1, effectively doubling its impact at no extra cost to you. And since contributions are tax deductible, it is both a philanthropic and financially tasty movement.
What are community scientists and how can they become one?
In addition to giving, Wisconsinites have another powerful way to contribute: volunteering. As Owen Boyle, Director of the Species Management Section of the DNR, said, “Volunteers support critical research and monitoring for many of Wisconsin’s rarest plant and animal species and provide an effective approach to managing invasive species.”
These volunteers—often referred to as community scientists—don’t need advanced degrees or prior experience. All they need is curiosity and a bit of time.
By helping to distinguish the different calls of 12 different species of frogs and toads to identify rare wildflowers, community scientists act as boots on the ground in areas that biologists cannot always reach. In 2024 alone, volunteers conducted surveys in almost every county in Wisconsin, providing crucial data that guides conservation priorities.
Frog and toad surveys are one of the most accessible and oldest programs. Since its inception in 1981 and its expansion in 1984, volunteers have travelled through designated roads each spring, stopping at 10 locations to record frog calls. These five-minute listening sessions, repeated in three specific periods during the mating season, provide an instant of abundance and species distribution.
What other volunteer programs are available?
There is no shortage of ways to get involved, regardless of your location or level of experience. Some of these projects include:
- Plants and Habitats: Documenting bloom times and monitoring rare native flora like orchids and sedges.
- Invertebrates: Monitoring pollinators such as bumble bees and butterflies, especially in prairie and savanna habitats.
- Other Animals: Observing nesting birds, bat populations, and salamanders in specific conservation areas.
There is even a phenology study option for those who prefer a routine engagement. These surveys record the seasonal time of species behaviour: critical data for monitoring climate change impacts on local ecosystems.
Why it counts now more than ever
It is easy to think that someone else, an expert or an organization, has covered wildlife. But the reality is that government budgets are slender, environmental threats are accelerating, and data gaps can mean the difference between recovery and extinction of a vulnerable species.
The Fund fills these gaps. It allows agility to respond to emerging threats such as new diseases, invasive species or habitat destruction. And because it is people-based, both financial and voluntary, it is a community-based model of conservation that works.
As climate change increases and habitats are reduced, maintaining biodiversity becomes not only an issue of environmental management, but also of public health and economic resilience. Pollinators like bees contribute to food systems. Bats help control parasites. Several plant species have potential for future drugs and agricultural resilience.
So, the next time you complete your tax form, or even take a look at this little gift box, remember that checking a line can break down an entire ecosystem. You don’t need to be a biologist to make a difference. Just a contributor with a heart.
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