Recieved the following email today, figured I would share it with all...

Catch a combo for wildlife
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DNR leader explains how citizens can earn federal conservation funds

Dear Fellow Indiana Wildlife Conservationists:
Indiana can earn millions more federal dollars for wildlife conservation.
Here's how. Federal wildlife management funding is based on state sport license sales. So if more Hoosier wildlife conservationists, even those who do not consider themselves hunters or anglers, purchase Indiana hunting and fishing licenses, then the state earns more federal wildlife conservation funds.
For example, your $25 Resident Combination Fishing and Hunting License contribution to wildlife earns the state another $20 from Uncle Sam.
If just 30 caring people from each Indiana county bought a combo license every year for the next ten years, they would earn wildlife more than an extra million dollars.
Hoosiers who spend their time afield with binoculars, cameras and hiking boots instead of shotgun shells and fly rods should recognize how many of our wildlife habitat purchases are funded.
Annual sport license funds help buy critical wildlife habitat, like the new 8,000-acre Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in Greene County.
Also, with each gun, bow or fishing pole bought, a portion of the purchase price goes to the federal government as an excise tax. Indiana then gets a share of those taxes back, based on the number of fishing and hunting licenses sold. This federal money is committed to wildland acquisition and habitat management.
Your purchase of an Indiana Resident Combination Hunting and Fishing License provides instant leverage of your original dollars, even if you choose not to hunt or fish. A $25 contribution becomes a $45 contribution.
The DNR can then take that pool of funds and leverage it even further with private dollars to buy and manage land. That is exactly how Goose Pond became a reality.
Leveraging your dollars and spending money that comes from outside Indiana on Hoosier projects seems like a pretty good idea to me.
Another great way for conservationists around the state to support the environment is by purchasing the Environmental License Plate for their vehicles.
The money this generates ($1.5 million in 2005) goes directly into the Indiana Heritage Trust. Last year that fund allowed for the purchase or protection of 38 properties in 25 counties around the state.
The Heritage Trust also leverages funds with matches from private individuals, not-for-profit organizations, and other governmental entities. This leverage lets every Indiana Heritage Trust dollar buy $5 worth of habitat.
You will continue to hear and see more about our effort to get Hoosiers to Catch a Combo and to put blue ELP plates on their vehicles.
Urge all of your wildlife-watching friends to Catch a Combo to support wildlife conservation. It's as easy as visiting www.dnr.IN.gov . Click on 'hunting and fishing licenses' to purchase a license and start protecting Indiana's wildlife today.
See you on the trail,
Kyle J. Hupfer,
Director, Indiana Department of Natural Resources