I’m cross-posting from Larry Jordan’s blog, The Birders Report, and from the Wildlife Conservation Stamp website. Both pieces are about a project in which Larry and I and other conservation-minded individuals are involved. Here are links to full posts, with excerpts below:
Imagine What a Wildlife Conservation Stamp Could Do!
“… figures show that less than 10 percent of all hunters buy the Duck Stamp and that would be the ones required to buy it to hunt waterfowl. So the other approximately 200,000 Duck Stamps are purchased by collectors and other non-consumptive users of the refuge system.
Now, to be fair, of those 71.8 million wildlife watchers I mentioned earlier, only 19.8 million observe wildlife away from home and 12.4 million are wildlife photographers. So, if only 10 percent of those folks that observe wildlife away from home bought a Wildlife Conservation Stamp at our proposed price of $20, we could raise another $39.6 million for our National Wildlife Refuge System.”
The Federal Duck Stamp: What if There Was an Alternative?
What if there was an accurate accounting of stamp purchases and contributions by non-consumptive users, as well as official recognition of our valuable conservation efforts?
What if there was additional funding for photography blinds, boardwalks, viewing platforms, nature and interpretive trails?
What if there was additional funding for species and habitat projects that are sometimes short-changed in favor of game animal priorities?
What if there was additional funding for wildlife education programs for both children and adults, including field materials and programs encouraging birding, photography and other non-consumptive uses?
What if there were an additional 70 million National Wildlife Refuge advocates buying a stamp to support wildlife habitat and the National Wildlife Refuge system?
————————
Please click over to our Facebook community page and give us a LIKE if you haven’t already. (At the top of our Facebook page this weekend, there’s also a photo by Mike Baird, showing the rare occurrence of a mother sea otter with twins.)
And leave a comment at the Wildlife Conservation Stamp website if you support this idea for the future of our Refuges!
I truly hope that the Wildlife Conservation Stamp becomes a reality. I want to be counted as a non-consumptive user of the refuge system. I also think the extra funding that this could provide for the refuge system is needed today, not 10 years from now.
I echo Mia’s sentiments. I would gladly give $20 to the proposed wildlife conservation stamp for non-consumptive purposes, whether I ever visited the national wildlife refuges or not.