Friends of Duck Stamp, FWS support $10 price increase

President Barack Obama’s approval of a $10 increase in the price of the federal hunting-permit stamp was welcomed by a number of the stamp’s advocates.

“Even at $25, purchasing the stamp is a great value,” said Paul Baicich, president of the Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp (friendsofthestamp.org), after the White House announced Dec. 19 that the president had approved a law boosting the price per stamp from $15 to $25, effective in 2015.

Dan Ashe, director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the stamp program, said the price increase “will restore most of the purchasing power that has been lost since the price was last increased in 1991.”

Waterfowl hunters must purchase the stamp. Proceeds from the stamp sales are used to expand waterfowl habitat in one of the government’s most acclaimed conservation efforts.