Tax donations can help benefit Ohio wildlife programs

Columbus — Ohioans can support the beauty of the state’s natural world by simply checking a box on their tax return.

Donations to Ohio’s State Nature Preserves and Scenic Rivers or Wildlife Diversity funds are administered by the Ohio DNR (ODNR).

The Buckeye State is home to an amazing collection of high-quality forest, prairie, wetland, and streamside habitats which support thousands of native plant and wildlife species. Donations from this program protect those areas, allowing plants and wildlife to thrive.

Donations to the State Nature Preserves and Scenic Rivers Fund supports the work of ODNR’s Division of Natural Areas and Preserves in protecting exceptional habitats within Ohio’s 147 state nature preserves and 16 state scenic rivers. Donations help protect unique ecosystems harboring rare species on land and in streams and enhance the ability for Ohioans to visit protected sites. The fund also supports critical ecological management, including efforts to remove invasive species which pose a growing threat to fragile landscapes.

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Donations to the Nature Preserves and Scenic Rivers Fund provides critical funding for visitor facilities, including signage and trail projects such as the addition of two miles of accessible paved and boardwalk trail at Stage’s Pond State Nature Preserve in central Ohio.

With the assistance of Ohio Income Tax Refund donations, the division established two new state nature preserves in 2024, which protect high-quality habitats in Columbiana and Vinton counties. For the first time in six years, the division added a new state scenic river when Raccoon Creek became Ohio’s 16th state scenic river.

Several construction projects to improve visitor accessibility at two of the state’s most popular preserves, Blackhand Gorge and Clifton Gorge, are currently or will be under construction this year. This fund also supports public programming and interpretive materials like publications and signage.

Bald eagles benefit from donations to the Wildlife Diversity Fund. Donations also fund free informational field guides, posters, and educational exhibits.

The Division of Wildlife manages the Wildlife Diversity Fund, relying primarily on donations to support restoration of the states’ species of greatest conservation need. In the past, tax donations to the Wildlife Diversity Fund support projects to restore lake sturgeon, freshwater mussel, eastern hellbender, and bald eagle populations. Donations also fund free informational field guides, posters, and educational exhibits.

Donations to the Wildlife Diversity Fund support restoration of the Ohio’s species of greatest conservation need, including the monarch butterfly.

Another species that benefits from Wildlife Diversity Fund donations is the monarch butterfly. The Division of Wildlife worked to increase this migratory butterfly’s population by supporting the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative’s efforts to collect, gather, and distribute milkweed seed pods.