Disconnect from waterfowling slows growth of public land

[mike rossi]

Loss of Conservation Funding

Up to 98% of money raised by the duck stamps is used to purchase or lease habitat within the National Wildlife Refuge system.”

Estimate of the impact the amount of duck stamps which would have been sold had hunters remained connected to waterfowl on the revenue loss and to estimate how much habitat could have been made available to conservationists.

“If hunter levels had kept consistent with historical trends then 600,000 more duck stamps would have been expected to have been sold between 1995 and 2008 than actually occurred,”. “That equates to an annual loss of $9,000,000, or $126 million across the whole period. For conservation the results are dramatic as this money could have resulted in 42,495 ha of wetlands.”

Looking to the future, the team predict that hunter numbers will continue to decline due to various social, cultural and economic factors. By using three different scenarios to explore the economic impact, the team estimate that up to $14.3 million could be lost annually.