MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The 2022-23 Federal Duck Stamp goes on sale Friday, June 24. The stamps, which cost $25 and raise about $40 million for conservation each year, are valid from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
Purchased by millions of waterfowl hunters, wildlife enthusiasts and stamp collectors every year, duck stamps provide critical funding to purchase and protect wetlands and associated habitat for ducks, geese and other wildlife species.
“The Federal Duck Stamp is one of the most efficient and effective ways to support conservation anywhere in the world,” said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. “Buying Federal Duck Stamps is one of the easiest ways you can support habitat conservation. The stamps are one of the most successful conservation tools ever created to provide a funding source for wildlife conservation. Of every dollar spent on a Federal Duck Stamp, 98 cents is used by our friends at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire and protect waterfowl habitat. The first day of sale is our opportunity to celebrate and support the waterfowl and wildlife we love so much.”
The 2022-23 Federal Duck Stamp features Minnesota artist James Hautman’s painting of a pair of redheads floating in the water. A green-winged teal, painted by 15-year-old South Dakota resident Madison Grimm, will grace the 2022-2023 Junior Duck Stamp, which raises funds to educate and engage our nation’s youth in wildlife and wetlands conservation and outdoor recreation. This is Grimm’s third national win. More than 3,000 junior duck stamps are sold annually for $5 each to help promote conservation education through art.
The duck stamp, more formally known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, dates back to 1934. Since then, the program has raised more than $1 billion to help acquire and protect more than six million acres of habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
By purchasing Federal Duck Stamps and supporting Ducks Unlimited, waterfowl hunters and other conservationists help ensure that farmers and ranchers can protect threatened wetlands and grasslands on working lands, which is essential to sustaining healthy waterfowl populations.
Ducks Unlimited has conserved, protected and restored more than 15 million acres – or more than 23,000 square miles – of habitat in North America. The impressive number could not have been reached without the tireless efforts of millions of Ducks Unlimited supporters, volunteers, partners and staff members who have been a part of the organization over the past 85 years.
Waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to purchase and carry a duck stamp while hunting. A duck stamp also provides free admission to national wildlife refuges (NWRs) that are open to the public. Duck stamps are sold at post offices nationwide and at many NWRs and sporting goods stores. You can also purchase electronic versions of the duck stamp online. Click here for more information.
There will be no public first-day ceremony for the new stamp.
For more information about Ducks Unlimited, visit www.ducks.org, and follow DU’s newest Twitter feed, @DUConserve, to get the most up-to-date news from Ducks Unlimited.
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world‘s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 15 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.
