Migratory Bird Habitat Investment and Enhancement Act
The Federal Duck Stamp continues to be a success story for conservation. Since 1934, sales of the Federal
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| Courtesy Fish & Wildlfe Service | Duck Stamp have conserved more than 5.2 million acres of waterfowl habitat across the country.
However, the buying power of the stamp has not kept pace with inflation. The price of the stamp was last raised in 1991 to $15. In the meantime land prices have skyrocketed, and the acreage that funds from the stamp have been decreasing. In the prairie breeding grounds, land values have more than tripled just since 1998 - in Minnesota land values have increased from $400 an acre to more than $1400 an acre.
To restore the buying power of the Duck Stamp, Congressmen John Dingell and Robert Wittman have introduced a bill to increase the price and the availability of the stamp. The Migratory Bird Investment and Enhancement Act would raise the price of the stamp to $25 - about what the $15 stamp in 1991 would cost, adjusted for inflation.
Ducks Unlimited supports this effort to ensure that the investment that waterfowl hunters have made into protecting waterfowl habitat over the last 75 years is not wasted, and to continue the conservation tradition of the Duck Stamp.
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