History of the Duck Stamp

Every waterfowl hunter knows that feeling, the highly anticipated breaking of daylight, when you know if the birds you scouted days before on public land will return for a repeat performance. And as you finish off your thermos lid full of coffee, while making last minute preparations for the coveted morning flight. Whistling wings overhead and ducks hitting the water are heard but not seen, daylight comes and the first group circles and commits feet down in your spread. An echo of safety clicks can be heard, the shot is called, barrels in sync with each other are raised from the concealment of the cattails. A choir of gun shots are heard not only from the spot you are hunting but all around the well known refuge. As you hang your birds on the duck tote and open the blind bag, your eyes go right past the Federal Duck Stamp being protected in the clear license holder to the shells at the bottom of your bag. Never giving a second thought to that little stamp that provided and helped conserve the habitat you are hunting and the vast amount of waterfowl that is so readily available to you season after season. That wasn’t always the case and at the height of some of the darkest times in America one of the greatest conservation feats were born, the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp, or what is now called the Federal Duck Stamp.

During the early 1900’s America was growing at a rapid rate and the need for resources increased at an overwhelming amount. Without proper regulations and free roam, people tend to not think about the impact they cause on the land, the future of that land and the wildlife who call that land their home. According to the Fish and Wildlife service, “Within a few decades, these resources had been decimated. Millions of birds and other wildlife were killed, some species to the point of extinction. Market shooting to supply food to restaurants, bounty hunting and unregulated sport hunting, and collecting feathers for the fashion industry all contributed to the loss. Millions of acres of wetlands were drained to feed and house the ever-increasing population, greatly reducing waterfowl breeding and nesting habitat.” It wasn’t only people that contributed to the depletion and reductions in wetlands but also mother nature with severe droughts and floods. The 30’s were home to some of the roughest times in American history with the great depression and the dust bowl. While most people were more concerned with putting food on their own table then the depletion of wetlands. During this time many hunters thought this was the end to waterfowl hunting, because of the few amount of ducks and the great drought that was plaguing the Prairie Pothole Region which is known as the breeding grounds for many waterfowl.

In 1934 one of the greatest conservation leaders emerged, that would literally put his stamp on history Jay “Ding” Darling known more for his editorial cartoons then his conservation efforts at that time. “Darling was a critic of the New Deal, a Republican friend of Herbert Hoover, and eventually a two-time Pulitzer prize-winning editorial cartoonist. So he seemed an unlikely choice to head a New Deal Conservation agency like the Biological Survey. And he was hesitant noting: ’I certainly did not want the job. A singed cat was never more conscious of the dangers of fire than I was of the hazards in trying to get anything done in Washington.’ But his love of waterfowl overcame his distrust of Franklin Roosevelt when he agreed to take over as Chief of the Biological Survey in 1934. Darling’s tenure as Director lasted a mere 20 months but it set the Duck Stamp and the refuge system on a new path for the next 82 years. Darling was responsible for securing some $17 million for wildlife habitat restoration. He established the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission and made great strides toward bringing hunter and conservationist together.” Right after Darling took office in 1934 President Franklin D Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act a bill Jay “Ding” Darling and many waterfowl hunters advocated for. You know it is a dire issue when waterfowl hunters impose an additional cost on themselves to protect it, and so future generations can enjoy the hunting heritage they enjoyed. The first duck stamp was actually drawn up by Darling himself he knew that the stamp needed an image that could represent what he, other hunters, and conservationist were so passionate about. It is said that Darling was hard on himself for the first image which was a draft along with 6 others that were given to Colonel Sheldon, the Bureau’s Chief of Public Relations. Darling wrote, “I could have murdered Colonel Sheldon and all the Bureau of engraving personnel and every time I look at the proof design of the first duck stamp I still want to do it.” The first stamp as shown below was a perfect example of what gets every hunter out of the bed at 3 A.M. and sometimes earlier, with sleep in our eyes we all long for that perfect picture of mallards cupped-up and feet down.

todayinconservation.com — todayinconservation

The first stamp sold for just $1 compared to the $25 dollars today, about 600,000 stamps were sold the first year, today about 1.7 million are sold annually. The first stamp was a 90:10 percent division of funds meaning “Not less than 90 percent of the account could be used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to supplement other funds for the "purchase, development, and maintenance" of waterfowl refuges. The remaining 10 percent were for printing and distribution, plus enforcement of the Act and other federal laws on migratory birds.” Today that ratio has changed to 98% of every dollar spent on the stamps goes directly to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to protect these lands for not only us but for the wildlife that use them and so that future generations can enjoy the same lands, maybe even live the same stories we tell around duck camp, about that one time at that one spot. Over $800 million dollars have been contributed directly to conservation since 1934 through the stamps and more than 5.7 million acres of wetlands have been purchased or restored using the funds from duck stamps. Even some countries have started issuing duck stamps after seeing the effectiveness of the program. The stamp is not only a requirement to go hunting but has since evolved to include a stamp people from all walks of life can enjoy and even agree on from bird watchers to hunters and city folk to country folk. In 1949 “The first Duck Stamp art contest was open to any U.S. artist who wished to enter. Decades later, the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest remains the only art competition of its kind sponsored by the U.S. government - and one that anyone may enter. Wildlife artists annually vie for the prestige of seeing their art grace the new stamp.” Now thanks to people like Jay “Ding” Darling or better known as “The best friend ducks ever had”, the future is bright for the protection of wetlands and waterfowl hunters. I encourage every hunter to buy two stamps one for hunting and one for your own duck stamp collection. This is not only something that you can pass down but the extra $25 you spend you know will be put to good use. There are nearly 1 million active waterfowl hunters in the United States if every hunter bought two stamps that’s an extra 25 million dollars to conservation, that’s a lot of stacks for quacks. Remember the next time your eyes pass by that clear license holder protecting that little stamp in your blind bag to take a moment and think back to the time waterfowl hunting was almost extinct.