Houston Regional Group - News

The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) has supported the acquisition of lands for San Bernard (including Columbia Bottomlands), Brazoria, Anahuac, McFaddin, and Trinity River National Wildlife Refuges. Did you ever wonder how these and other national wildlife refuges (NWRs), managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), are funded so that lands can be acquired?

There are two basic ways to fund acquisition of lands for NWRs. The first is via the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The fund was established in 1964 and uses a portion of the royalties from offshore oil/gas, appropriated by the U.S. Congress, to buy refuge lands.

Since Ronald Reagan became President and even more so since George W. Bush, Jr. became President the LWCF has been low funded by Republican and Democratic Congresses with Presidential support. In fact the U.S. Congress on many occasions has raided the LWCF used the money to pay for other government activities. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress sometimes shifts funds from legitimate purposes (like buying land for NWRs) and uses them to pay for purposes that have nothing to do with why the funds were collected in the first place.

The second way that NWRs receive money for land acquisition is via "Duck Stamps". In 1934 the U.S. Congress passed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. This Act requires all hunters 16 years or older to buy annually, and carry with them, a "Duck Stamp". Monies from "Duck Stamps" go into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. Monies from the Fund purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat that will be included in the NWR System.

The money collected is dispersed by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission to different parts of the country to buy lands for NWRs. The U.S. Congress cannot raid the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. More than 5.2 million acres of land has been acquired and added to NWRs via the sale of over $700 million in "Duck Stamps". Almost 30,000 of the 56,000 acres that make up the San Bernard NWR have been bought by "Duck Stamps".

Each year the FWS sponsors an art competition to determine who will receive the title of "Federal Duck Stamp Artist". The winner designs the next "Duck Stamp" and gets a big boost in his or her career. Reproductions of the "Federal Duck Stamp" are also licensed for products manufactured and sold by the private sector. Royalties from the sale of these products go into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund and fund further wetland purchases.

There also is a "Federal Junior Duck Stamp" competition which funds conservation education in the form of awards and scholarships to students, teachers, and schools that participate in the program via revenues from "Junior Duck Stamps".

For years hunters have funded all or much of the land acquired for NWRs via the purchase of "Duck Stamps". However, the number of hunters is dwindling. Anyone can buy a "Duck Stamp" from the U.S. Post Office. The cost for one "Duck Stamp" is $15.

If all 750,000 Sierra Club members would buy just one "Duck Stamp" a year this would generate $11,250,000 for NWR land acquisition. If all 6,000 members of the HSC bought a "Duck Stamp" this would generate $90,000 for NWR land acquisition.

If you love to bird, hunt, fish, photograph, hike, crab, observe wildlife, canoe, boat, nature study, participate in environmental education, or just love pretty places then you owe it to wildlife and NWRs to buy at least one "Duck Stamp" each year. I strongly encourage Houston Sierra Clubbers to buy a "Duck Stamp" in 2007. Begin to make this a lifetime habit so that wildlife can have a place to live and we can have a place to enjoy watching wildlife.

Material used in this article was taken from the FWS brochure, "The Duck Stamp Story" and the FWS website.

March 2007

Last updated:  01/28/2007.   Content © 1999-2007 by the Sierra Club.