Wisconsin’s Waterfowl Stamp:
The Wisconsin Waterfowl Stamp has generated more than fourteen million dollars for habitat work since its inception in 1978. Projects include wetland restoration and protection, wetland development, and management, including increased and improved public access for hunting, fishing and wildlife watching.
First issued in 1978 at a price of $3.25, the stamp price was increased in 1991 to $5.25 and again in 1997 to $7.00. Now, the price of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Stamp has not been raised for nearly 23 years. The combined affects of inflation, increasing user demand, an enlarged public land base, and the cost of maintenance for significant wetland infrastructure means many habitat activities are going unfunded, as the pool of funding created by the sale of the stamp, falls far short of what is needed to keep up with what is needed by stamp-funded projects.
WWA’s efforts to increase stamp funding:
If you follow us on Facebook, in mid-February you saw a press release in which we acknowledged the Governor’s inclusion of the Waterfowl Stamp Increase in his recent budget. WWA (and others) have been working on this inflationary adjustment for over a decade – it was last increased in 1997, over 23 years ago! So, we were pleased to see this first hurdle appear in the rear-view mirror. Especially after a LOT of energy and expenditure of political capital. Read the full article here.
In January 2021 representatives of WWA and other duck organizations (DU and Delta) met with Senator Howard Marklein and several of his constituents at Cruson Slough near Long Rock last month to discuss the value of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Stamp to conservation. Senator Marklein, in his role as Co-Chair of the Joint Finance Committee, has a pivotal role in bringing the Waterfowl Stamp fee up-to-date. Read the full article here.
In October 2020, members of WWA and DU met with SE Wisconsin Legislators at Big Muskego Lake to consider and view WI Duck Stamp project work. Representatives Skowronski, Sinicki, and Wichgers met at the Boxhorn launch and heard from duckhunters how the stamp funds are used to benefit waterfowl and other marsh critters, and the communities that surround those wetlands. And how time and inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the $7 stamp. Groups like WWA and DU have been advocating for a stamp fee increase of $5 to account for the reduced impact for the last 10 years, without success. Here’s some of the documentation that will help explain why this is important to the future of waterfowling and why our members support this effort at the 85% level
- Waterfowl Stamp Supports Critical Breeding Habitat
- Waterfowl Stamp Fee Increase Supported by Hunters
WWA’s Duck Stamp History
For 35 years, the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (WWA) has conducted small scale wetland restorations exclusively in Wisconsin that are fundamental to the breeding and other lifecycle needs of waterfowl. Funding derived from the Waterfowl Stamp fee has been critical to that work. WWA competes for this funding through an application process that ranks state-wide projects against each other to deliver the best possible value to the state’s waterfowlers, whose money creates this fund. WWA leverages the stamp funding it receives against member-provided dollars, landowner contributions, and other conservation partner funding to deliver on-the-ground results efficiently. Read on…
Duck Stamp Funding: Fact, Fiction, or Strongly-Worded Opinion?
Maybe this article should be titled, “The things I read on Facebook”. Anybody who’s spent any time on Facebook would not be surprised by the incomplete and incorrect information that gets expressed as unchallengeable truth – and is frequently expressed with an antagonistic attitude. For sure, the medium does not lend itself to having a positive, respectful and thoughtful discussion. But it does expose where some people’s heads are at, and maybe, where more education is needed on an issue. Read on…