Duck Stamps On Sale Here!!
Picture a wetland; tall reeds swaying gracefully in the breeze, pond weeds spread out in dense mats as far as the eye can see, duck families dabbling for a meal, graceful egrets, soaring hawks and eagles, plentiful fish, and carpets of wildflowers! Picture yourself enjoying the bounties of this wetland; fishing, hiking, biking, or by canoe. Think about the many public benefits provided by wetlands. One-third of America's endangered species are dependent on them for survival. Wetlands provide flood control, water purification (one acre of wetlands can filter 7.3 million gallons of runoff each year), water supply, and erosion control, to name just a few.

Now consider the fact that this national treasure that we call "wetlands" is disappearing at the alarming rate of 100,000 acres a year to development, and that funding is urgently needed to purchase and protect them. The sale of DUCK STAMPS is part of the solution to the problem posed by the need to raise these much needed funds.

You can help out by buying DUCK STAMPS at the Tinicum Treasures Gift Shop. They may be purchased for $15.00 from either gift shop personnel, or from FWS staff at the reception desk, when the gift shop is not open.
DUCK STAMP funds are primarily used to buy up sensitive wetlands, with over 5 million acres having been saved through the Duck Stamp program to date.

The Migratory Bird Conservation Act (the real name of the DUCK STAMP ACT) was passed by Congress in 1929, but it provided no means of permanent funding. The funding problem was later corrected at the urging of J. N. "Ding" Darling, who was a political cartoonist for the Des Moines Register, and an avid conservationist. After his appointment as chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey (now the Fish & Wildlife Service) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Darling developed a stamp which was to be purchased by all waterfowl hunters. Today, hunters and non-hunters alike purchase these DUCK STAMPS, with the proceeds of these sales being used to purchase habitat for migrating waterfowl. Additional information about the DUCK STAMP program may be found on the Internet at http://www.duckstamps.fws.gov.

Please stop in and buy some DUCK STAMPS the next time you visit the Refuge. Not only for yourself, but as a lasting gift to the remaining natural world that we live in!!