.jpg "This special Duck Stamp product will help raise money for Gulf Coast wetlands. (Credit: USFWS)")
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar unveiled a special edition Federal Duck Stamp envelope, or cachet, on Tuesday to help fund conservation efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The cachet can be purchased by hunters, stamp collectors, birders and others for $25—or $10 more than the cost of a regular Duck Stamp.
The funds will be used to acquire wetlands for inclusion in national wildlife refuges along the oil-soaked Gulf Coast.
“When the Dust Bowl of the 1930s destroyed many wetlands, our nation’s sportsmen lobbied Congress to support the creation of the Duck Stamp for wetland acquisition and conservation,” Salazar said. “Today, the wildlife of the Gulf Coast faces new threats—from the current oil spill to disappearing wetlands—that we must rise to confront. This special edition duck stamp cachet will provide hunters and other conservationists the opportunity to once again go beyond the call of duty by conserving disappearing wetlands for generations to come.”
The cachet features a silk rendering of an award-winning photograph of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Florida by David Moynahan and the 2010-2011 Federal Duck Stamp, which depicts an American wigeon painted by artist Robert Bealle of Waldorf, Md.
Salazar made the announcement in Memphis, Tenn., at Ducks Unlimited’s national headquarters.
“Duck stamps have been a conservation tradition since 1934,” said Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Waterfowl hunters, stamp collectors, and wildlife supporters have been the mainstay of that tradition, but we need to expand that community to address broad-scale challenges such as the disappearance of wetlands, accelerated climate change, and other 21st century resource threats.”
According to Ducks Unlimited, 1.5 million of the 3.1 million acres of coastal wetlands that existed 100 years ago in Louisiana are gone. The state also loses 25 square miles of marsh every year, and 50 acres of coastal wetlands are lost each day.
Channelization of the Mississippi River by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, which dramatically reduced the amount of fresh water flowing into Gulf wetlands, has contributed to this decline. Also contributing to the losses have been oil and other development and exploration along the Gulf Coast, which have allowed salt water to rapidly enter waters that otherwise supported freshwater aquatic vegetation favored by waterfowl and other birds.
“It is hard to over-state the importance of the habitat provided by the Louisiana coastal marsh to North American waterfowl,” said Dr. Tom Moorman, director of conservation planning for Ducks Unlimited. “Millions of waterfowl winter in Louisiana, including substantial proportions of continental populations of gadwalls, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, northern pintails, lesser scaup, resident mottled ducks and over three-quarters of a million mallards.”
All migratory bird hunters must buy a $15 Federal Duck Stamp, formally known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, each year in addition to state licenses, stamps and permits. The design of the stamp is determined by an annual art competition, and the stamps have become popular with stamp collectors and wildlife art enthusiasts as well as those who simply want to contribute to wetland conservation.
Since 1934, Federal Duck Stamp sales have raised more than $750 million to acquire and protect more than 5.3 million acres of wetlands, including habitat on hundreds of the 552 National Wildlife Refuges spread across all 50 states and U.S. territories.
The public can purchase the special edition Federal Duck Stamp cachet from Amplex Corporation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s distributor, by dialing 1-800-852-4897 or visiting www.duckstamp.com.
