2023-2024 Duck Stamp now available
Susan Hubley
It’s not to early to start thinking about holiday shopping, and an excellent stocking stuffer for any birder or conservation minded individual just went on sale!. Yes, the 2023-2024 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, featuring a trio of Tundra Swans, is now available for purchase. I’ll argue that this is one of the very best ways to ensure that your dollars go directly to acquire land and support wetland conservation.
Not familiar with the Duck Stamp?
This is directly from the USFWS website (Duck Stamps | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov))
One of the easiest ways that anyone can support bird habitat conservation is by buying Federal Duck Stamps — among the most successful conservation tools ever created to protect habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Federal Duck Stamps are conservation revenue stamps; 98 percent of the purchase prices goes directly to help acquire and protect wetland habitat and purchase conservation easements for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Wetlands acquired with Duck Stamp dollars help purify water, aid in flood control, reduce soil erosion and sedimentation, and enhance outdoor recreation opportunities.
Also known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, the Duck Stamp was conceived in 1934, when Congress passed and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (later amended to the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Act). The first Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. "Ding" Darling, then director of the Bureau of Biological Survey (forerunner to today's U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service).
In addition to being the only conservation revenue stamp, the Federal Duck Stamp is also unique in the way the stamp is created. Each year, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service holds an art contest, the only juried art competition sponsored by the federal government.
You can purchase the stamp from the US Post Office (usps.com), some retail outlets for fishing and hunting licenses, some NWRs (but not to my knowledge the ones around here) and other outlets. I get mine from the post office, which offers the ability to acquire the stamp on an attractive souvenir sheet at no additional cost.
While shopping the post office, check out the new Forever stamps featuring Golden-cheeked Warbler, Attwater’s Prairie Chicken, Mississippi Sandhill Crane, and more. That is if you are one of the 11 people other than me who actually use postage stamps.
Susan