News & Views
March/April 2008
Nongame fund seeks donations...
Gov. Mitch Daniels says Hoosiers can help one of Indiana’s rarest wildlife species when they file their state income taxes this year. The special checkoff on Line 35 of the state tax form allows taxpayers to donate a portion of their state tax refund to the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund, which helps fund the return of the bald eagle to Indiana.
“This is an important part of Indiana’s wildlife heritage. Funding for conservation efforts for bald eagles and hundreds of other species increases when Hoosiers check the box on their tax form,” Daniels said.
DNR director Robert E. Carter Jr. said the return of the bald eagle to Indiana—now 80 nesting pairs—is the most successful example of the program, and the more checkoffs on tax forms, the more matching federal funds become available for the program.
The Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund supports research and management activities for the state’s estimated 750 species of birds, mammals, fish, mussels, reptiles and amphibians that traditionally are not pursued through hunting and fishing. In fact, nongame species make up more than 90 percent of the wildlife in Indiana.
The Indiana legislature established the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund in 1982. Operating solely on voluntary contributions, the fund has paved the way for reintroducing to the Indiana landscape such once-endangered species as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and river otter.
The bald eagle, official icon of the nongame program, had been absent in the state since the late 1890s. The DNR launched a six-year restoration project in 1985 by releasing young eagles, and 20 years later, there are nearly 80 nesting pairs in the state.
“Peregrine falcons and river otters have had similar success stories, but there is still much work to be done,” Carter said.
The DNR is working on a wide range of nongame species that need help—lake sturgeon, osprey, Franklin’s ground squirrel, Allegheny woodrat—and the fund has been used to help purchase critical wildlife habitat at Pisgah Marsh in Kosciusko County and Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, an 8,000-acre wetlands complex in Greene County.
In addition to the tax checkoff, direct donations are another option for contributing to the Nongame Fund. For information, write to Nongame Fund, 402 W. Washington St., Room W273, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, or visit endangeredwildlife.IN.gov.
Above left: A recently metamorphed cricket frog rests on DNR herpetologist Nate Engbrecht's finger. Photo by Zack Walker.
Senior fishing license primer...
It used to be Indiana residents who were 64 years old had to pay $17 for a fishing license that was good for just one year.
This year, a 64-year-old Hoosier can plunk down that same $17 and get a senior fishing license that’s good for a lifetime. Or there’s the less expensive, short-term option of buying a discounted, one-year senior license for $3.
Either way, the purchase of a senior license will benefit Hoosier anglers of all ages by enabling Indiana to collect its fair share of federal matching funds for fishing programs.
Starting April 1, residents age 64 and older born after March 31, 1943, will be required to purchase one of the two senior licenses approved last year by the Indiana legislature. Hoosiers age 65 and older and born before April 1, 1943, are not affected by the new law.
Each purchase of a senior fishing license brings the state an additional $7.90 in federal money from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. The fund collects an excise tax on fishing equipment and boat fuel and distributes money back to states based in part on the number of fishing licenses sold in the state.
Approximately 5,500 Hoosier anglers, age 64, bought a 2006 fishing license. If the same number buy a senior license this year, the state would gain $43,000 from the federal government. In 10 years, as more Hoosiers move into the senior license age bracket, the total would swell to $2.3 million.
The funding gained from license sales and federal matching money will be used for sport fish restoration programs, and expanding and maintaining public access to lakes and streams throughout the state.
Above right: Longtime senior fishing license advocate and dean of Indiana outdoor writers, Bayou Bill Scifres, angles a spotted bass from his beloved Muscatatuck River. Photo by John Maxwell.
Dunes' win streak continues...
Indiana Dunes State Park has won a third award for its project that returned Dunes Creek to a natural stream and wetlands area.
The award, bestowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chicago Wilderness, was one of 15 annual Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards presented at a ceremony at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
The awards recognize park districts, local governments and corporations for exemplary natural landscaping and conservation development.
New outdoor recreation director...
Steve Morris, who has worked at the DNR since 1994, is the new director of the Division of Outdoor Recreation.
Morris served as streams and trails section chief of the same division from 1998 through August 2007, when former director Emily Kress retired and he became interim director. Morris started with the DNR in 1994, as an intermittent streams-and-trails field specialist.
The avid hiker, bicyclist and canoeist holds a master’s degree in park-and-recreation administration from IU (1998), the same school from which he graduated in 1992 with a degree in public affairs.
Above left: New DNR Outdoor Recreation director Steve Morris often bikes to work in downtown Indianapolis.
Spring Mill in nation's top 10...
The 10k volksmarch at Spring Mill State Park has been named one of the country’s top 10 organized walks in a poll of American Volkssport Association members. The AVA sanctions more than 1,700 self-guided trails in the United States.
The organization’s walks go through a wide variety of areas, from national parks to quaint towns to exciting cities. Wendy Bumgardner, who writes a column on walking for the Web site About.com conducted the poll, asking a select group of the association’s members about their favorite walks of 2007.
Don Vartanian, president of the Indiana Volkssport Association, said Spring Mill’s ranking was well deserved.
“It’s a very enjoyable walk with lots of natural beauty,” he said. “The Pioneer Village gives a good feel for our Indiana heritage and I find that most interesting while doing my walk.
“It is one of my favorite walks and I would encourage anyone to add Spring Mill State Park to their list of places to go.”
Bumgardner’s article described the Spring Mill walk, which is available year round, as “a lovely hike in southern Indiana” that goes through “a virgin forest, along a stream, by sinkholes and caves, a restored pioneer village and gristmill. The walk starts at a charming inn worth a stay.”
For more information about the park or inn, call (812) 849-4129, or visit dnr.IN.gov/parklake/properties.
Above right: A wooden aquaduct carries water from Hamer Cave spring to the Spring Mill State Park village gristmill. Photo by John Maxwell.