Of Mallard Wings and Wonderous Things

Wildscaping brings its own form of cravings with it. You see the benefits of your own efforts, but you long to do something more. News stories fuel a sense of helplessness; a sense that time is running out for the wild things of the world and there's very little you can do about it other than try to fix up your back yard as a mini-habitat. Sometimes it doesn't seem like enough.

Would it surprise you to find out that there are some easy and effective ways to support conservation efforts and wildscaping? One of the most effective (and cheapest) ways of helping is by buying an annual Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp--commonly called the Duck Stamp.

The Duck Stamp was a simple idea first suggested in 1919 by (as far as historians can determine) the chief U.S. game warden, George A. Lawyer. It would lie mostly dormant for another 15 years until it was resurrected by a professional cartoonist who was working as chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey during the 1930's -- Jay N. Darling, who went by the nickname of "Ding Darling".

Although Congress had passed the Migratory Bird Conservation Act in 1929 which authorized the Department of the Agriculture to acquire and preserve wetlands, the real problem was finding money to purchase and administer the land. Darling was instrumental in developing a stamp that waterfowl hunters 16 years and older had to purchase each year -- a stamp that generated funds to pay for acquiring and preserving habitat for ducks, geese and swans. Darling's artwork, showing two mallard ducks landing on a pond is the image that appears on the very first Duck Stamp.

This is one of those little ideas that's been a big success. Through the years, Federal Duck Stamps have generated over $500 million dollars -- money that has been used to preserve nearly 4 1/2 million acres of prime waterfowl habitat. A lot of this land became part of various national wildlife refuges.

About 1.5 million of these stamps are sold each year. Although most are bought by hunters, many end up in the hands of stamp collectors. My stamp collecting friends claim that these stamps hold their value better and have a better resale value than ordinary stamps. If you could have bought every Duck Stamp ever issued at its release price, you would have spent about $350 acquiring the collection -- but its value would be well over $5,000 today. Because most of the excess stamps are destroyed annually, the number of stamps printed is not a good indication of

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