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Wetlands Loan Act Proposed

The Wetlands Loan Act, modeled after a similar bill first passed in 1961, would borrow up to $400 million against the future sales of duck stamps to help pay for easements and land purchases benefiting waterfowl and wildlife habitat.

The $400 million in loans, when added to the current annual revenues coming into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, would set aside $800 million over 10 years for wetlands and waterfowl habitat.

Conservation groups see habitat loss in the prairie pothole region of the upper Midwest, specifically in the Coteau region, as one of the major funding priorities.

To help repay the loan, the Wetlands Loan Act calls for an incremental increase in the price of the federal duck stamp over the next decade. Since the last price increase of the duck stamp 14 years ago, land values have skyrocketed (up 266 percent in some duck-habitat areas) along with inflation.

The past 15 years have seen no price increase in the Federal Duck Stamp, the longest time period without a price increase in the stamp's 71-year history. The price increased in 1991, from $12.50 to $15.

Many conservation groups support raising the price of the stamp. The proposed Wetland Loan Act would increase the price of the duck stamp by $10 to $25 in 2007, and again to $35 in 2015.

Federal Duck Stamps are pictorial stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the government, but they are not valid for postage. Among other things, they serve as the federal license to hunt waterfowl and currently raise $40 million to $50 million a year for habitat protection.

Among groups supporting the bill are Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and the National Wildlife Federation.