Page 4 - Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine Mar-Apr2023

Off the Beaten Path

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

NOTES ON WILDLIFE • OUTDOOR TIPS • READERS’ LETTERS • ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

COMPILED BY DON P . BROWN

DAVE MCGOWEN/RPS 2017 OKLAHOMANS CAN CHAMPION
THE WILD ON TAX RETURNS

DONATIONS SUPPORT WILDLIFE DIVERSITY
FOR NONGAME SPECIES
Taxpaying Oklahomans receiving a refund this tax sea-
son can champion wildlife by donating all or a portion of
their refund to the Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Diversity
Program. Tax refund donations can be made on Schedule
511-H of the 2022 state return, which must be filed with the
Oklahoma Tax Commission by April 17, 2023.
The Wildlife Department does not receive any state
tax appropriations and instead relies on hunting and fishing
license sales and donations to match federal conservation
funds. Donations support grants that fund surveys of spe-
cies of greatest conservation need, including Texas horned
lizards, Oklahoma salamanders, and American alligators.
Wildlife supporters needn’t wait for tax season to help
out; everyone is welcome to make a direct, tax-deductible
donation any time of the year through the “Shop/Donate”
ODWC’s Wildlife Diversity Program helps nongame species such as these burrowing owls. tab at www.GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com.

LICENSE BUYERS HELP SET ORGAN DONATION RECORD

For almost a year, the Wildlife Department has number of recipients ever recorded in Oklahoma.
been giving Oklahoma’s hunting and fishing license LifeShare coordinated the recovery of more than
buyers a chance at the time of purchase to register 600 organs from 249 organ donors and 1,106 tissue
as an organ, eye, and tissue donor. donors in 2022.
In addition to the 535 people saved through
organ donation, more than 82,000 people were
provided mobility and life enhancement through
tissue donation.
“Hunting and fishing are very important in Okla-
homa,” said Jeffrey Orlowski, president and CEO of
LifeShare. He said the partnership with the Wildlife
Department helps outdoorsmen realize that creating
a tradition of generosity through organ and tissue
donation is just as important.
The partnership between ODWC and the nonprof- Hunters and anglers in Oklahoma can buy their
it organization LifeShare Oklahoma was one of the licenses online at GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com and
first in the nation to pair the life-saving opportunity in-person at vendors across the state.
with the hunter and angler community. About 700 Oklahomans are awaiting life-saving
LifeShare recently announced that Oklahoma transplants. To learn more about organ and tissue
donors saved 535 lives during 2022, the highest donation, go to https://www.lifeshareoklahoma.org.

2 OFF THE BEATEN PATH