Colorado Parks and Wildlife seeks board applicants for Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Fund

DENVER, Colo – Colorado Parks and Wildlife announces an application process for Board of Director positions for the newly created Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Fund.

CPW is looking for Board members to represent the following categories:

• Two representatives from private sector wildlife rehabilitation centers
• One representative of the Colorado Federation of Animal Welfare Agencies
• One CPW employee
• One wildlife biologist employed by Colorado higher education institution or a non-state entity  
• One representative from a wildlife conservation organization whose mission focuses on conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems and habitat protection for biodiversity
• One member of the general public with an interest in non-consumptive uses of wildlife or wildlife rehabilitation

Board participation will be on a voluntary basis. Members will serve without compensation and without reimbursement for expenses incurred while fulfilling their responsibilities. The board is comprised of seven members, appointed by the CPW Director, serving staggered three-year terms. No member shall serve more than six years.

Interested parties can fill out the application here: Wildlife Rehabilitation Grant Program Board Member Application

The Colorado nongame check-off, a voluntary contribution program through tax returns, provides critical conservation funding for approximately 750 species of wildlife that cannot be hunted, fished or trapped. Funds go to projects that manage or recover wildlife including birds of prey, lynx, river otter, black-footed ferret and others.

“The nongame tax checkoff is a vital tool for Colorado Parks and Wildlife to support the conservation and ​management of Colorado’s numerous nongame species,” said Reid DeWalt, assistant director for wildlife and natural resources at CPW.

A bill passed during the 2017 legislative session, Renew And Expand Tax Check-off To Benefit Wildlife (House Bill 17-1250), created a new grant program for wildlife rehabilitation centers, funded through a portion of revenue from the nongame tax check-off program. The law replaces the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Cash Fund and the cash fund is created in a new Section 33-1-125, C.R.S.

The fund is continuously appropriated from three revenue sources:

• The Wildlife Rehabilitation portion of the new check-off program starts with the 2017 tax year (i.e., returns filed in 2018 for 2017 taxes). The check-off sunsets after the 2021 tax year;
• The new statute makes a technical change to allow a portion of fines for nongame offenses to be deposited in the new fund. Previously, these assessments were credited to the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Cash Fund;
• Interest income remains in the fund.

The newly created grant program will provide funds for CPW to award with the primary goal of helping to facilitate wildlife rehabilitation in Colorado.

For the first $250,000 raised annually, 10 percent will be for grants to wildlife rehabilitators. The remaining 90 percent will be used for CPW nongame and endangered wildlife programs. For any funds over $250,000 generated annually, 25 percent of the funds will be used for grants to wildlife rehabilitation centers and 75 percent of the incremental funds above $250,000 will be for CPW nongame and endangered wildlife programs.

The Board is expected to meet at least two times in 2018. Board members will develop guidelines for processing and evaluating grant applications and will make recommendations to the division for authorizing grants to rehabilitators. In subsequent years, the board will likely meet annually to review and recommend grant funding.  

Wildlife rehabilitation is defined, and funding can go to operational or capital expenses. Rehabilitation of both game and nongame species is eligible; exotic species are not. Matching funds are not required. Applicants do not have to be a 501(c)(3) organization. Grants are to be in amounts between $1,000 and $30,000. The board will work to award grants to maximize wildlife rehabilitation efforts.

Awardees must complete a contract with CPW to receive a grant. Work done under the grant must be performed or managed by the grantee. The board will also develop a schedule for annual reports from grantees on how funds were expended. CPW will make information on grant recipients, award amounts and grant annual reports available on its website.  

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