The 2013-2014 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp ? better known as the Duck Stamp ? went on sale on June 28. This year's stamp, painted by Robert Steiner of San Francisco, California, depicts a drake common goldeneye and is available for purchase for $15 at many sporting goods and retail stores, at some post offices and national wildlife refuges, and online. While electronic stamps are available through a pilot program, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representative in early June will make duck stamps permanently available for purchase online. However, research included in the Summer 2013 edition of The Wildlife Professional describes how the sale of Duck Stamps has declined in recent years indicating fewer duck hunters and resulting in a potentially significant loss in conservation funding, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Duck Stamps have long provided an important revenue stream for the conservation of habitats for waterfowl and other birds. Almost all of the proceeds from the sale of the $15 stamp go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which is used to acquire wetlands habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. However, in an article entitled "As Waterfowl Hunters Decline? So Do Revenues for Wetlands Conservation" published recently in The Wildlife Professional (adapted from a study published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin), researchers outlined the current decline in sales of duck stamps and the potential ramifications for habitat conservation.

The study, led by Mark Vrtiska with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, evaluated trends in duck populations and noted the general increase in populations of breeding ducks, at the same time as the number of duck hunters has gradually decreased. The slow decline of waterfowl hunters from an average of 2.2 million stamps sold during the 1970's to an average of 1.4 million stamps sold each year between 2004-2008 equates to a loss of approximately $9 million per year (not adjusted for inflation).

"Waterfowl hunter numbers, as indicated by the sale of Duck Stamps, have historically fluctuated congruently with breeding duck populations," the authors wrote. "However, our evaluation found that the relationship between breeding duck populations and waterfowl hunters has weakened considerably. Although duck populations have increased, hunter numbers have not. If the consistent relationship that once existed between hunter numbers and duck population size had continued through the 1995-2008 period, approximately 600,000 more Duck Stamps would have been sold per year, with estimated revenue of $126 million."

The authors of the study encouraged a number of potential actions to recruit new waterfowl hunters and to increase the revenues from the stamps. Part of their recommendations include completing and implementing a Waterfowl Hunter Recruitment Strategy, increasing the cost of the stamp since the $15 price tag hasn't changed since 1991, and expanding public hunting access. The authors also encourage broadening the base of people buying the stamp by requiring everyone who recreates on National Wildlife Refuges or Waterfowl Production Areas to purchase a stamp.

Making the stamp readily available to purchase online would also facilitate sales, and bipartisan legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June would do that. The bill would provide immediate proof of purchase of a Duck Stamp to hunters who would then receive the traditional paper stamp in the mail. This will allow hunters to fulfill the obligation of having a Duck Stamp, even if the decision to hunt was made after local sporting goods stores closed for the evening. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is currently considering a companion bill, S. 738, introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) and co-sponsored by Sens. Max Baucus (MT), Thad Cochran (MS) and Mark Pryor (AR).

"There is no cost to the taxpayers, there is broad bipartisan support for this innovative idea and this convenient twenty-first century delivery system will be utilized by thousands of American sportsmen in the future. Allowing the purchase of duck stamps online is an important technological advancement and it is time to make this a permanent feature of federal law," said Rep. Rob Wittman from Virginia, a leading sponsor in the House along with Rep. Ron Kind from Wisconsin. "This is a small but common-sense step to making government work more efficiently for citizens."

With the increased cost of habitat conservation coupled with the declining number of stamps being purchased, it is clear that some changes are essential in order to meet the future conservation needs. In the near term, everyone who cares about bird conservation should head out and purchase the 2013-2014 Stamp. (jas)