Page 10 - Mar/Apr 2022 Outdoor Okahoma Magazine

TAX TIME CAN GET A
Game Bag LITTLE WILD

A COLLECTION OF LETTERS TO THE WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT With all the receipts and schedules and stress, tax time
We’d like to hear from you! Send your letters to Outdoor Oklahoma can get a little wild. But Schedule 511-H of Oklahoma’s
Letters, P.O. Box 53465, Oklahoma City, OK 73152, or send e-mail to income tax return allows citizens to put that wild energy
donald.brown@odwc.ok.gov.
to good use when they donate a portion of their refund to
ODWC’s Wildlife Diversity Fund. The Wildlife Depart-
Dear Darrin Hill, ODWC Communication Specialist, ment can then turn those
Thank you for coming to speak with my kids about wildlife donations into field surveys of
conservation. They had the coolest experience with games and our state’s rare and declining
props. (Here are notes from the students.) species, including the rough
and tumble swift fox.
• Thank you for letting us touch the animals’ skin and teach Forms can be found at the LArrY D. BrOWn/rEADErS' PHOtO SHOWCASE 2020
us about it. — Dennis Oklahoma Tax Commission’s
• Liked the animal skull. — Jackson website, oklahoma.gov/tax.
Income taxes may also be filed
• Thank you for taking time to come talk to us. — Ethan online for free. The deadline
• My favorite part was guessing the animal. — Reja for tax year 2021 returns is
April 18.
• Thank you for coming and showing science to us. — Addi
The Wildlife Department
• My favorite part was when you showed us different types does not receive general state tax appropriations. License
of scientists. — Angel sales and federal Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Pro-
• Thank you for telling us the cool facts about the animals. gram grant revenues are the main funding sources. Every
— Harley license dollar spent by sportsmen and sportswomen in
Oklahoma is used to fund the Wildlife Department’s
Ashley Johns, teacher, Central Middle School, Lawton user-pay/public-benefit conservation efforts.

CITIZEN SCIENCE CONTINUES WITH BIOBLITZ! OK 2022

In 1910, a group of Oklahoma bird watchers created and shared a log of their sightings near Tonkawa, launching a tra-
dition of citizen science in the Sooner State. That spirit of sharing has continued for more than a century, growing beyond
the initial Christmastime bird count to now include a full celebration of Oklahoma’s biodiversity known as BioBlitz! OK.
Oklahomans can share their plant and wildlife sightings during weeklong seasonal BioBlitz! inventories using the free
platforms iNaturalist and eBird. In addition to logging as many of our state’s species as possible, participants can also
join field trips, online presentations and download free nature activities. The 2022 Spring BioBlitz! OK is set for April
22-29. For more information, go to Oklahoma’s BioDiversity Learning Center, okbiodiversity.org, or scan the code.

8 Off the Beaten Path

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