2010 Federal Duck StampThe U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
released the 2010
Federal Duck Stamp
on Friday and the Junior Duck Stamp goes on sale Thursday.

Federal
Duck Stamps are not for postage, but they have other uses. Hunters over
the age of 16 need the current Federal Duck
Stamp affixed to their state hunting license. For non-hunters, a current
year’s stamp also serves as an entrance pass for National Wildlife
Refuges
 where admission is normally charged. The Junior
Duck Stamp
is purely commemorative. If you are an artist, there are
contests for the picture on both the federal and
junior
stamps every year.

Originally created in 1934 for hunting,
the stamp now raises funds to purchase
or lease wetland habitat
for protection in the National
Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS)
. 98 cents of every dollar spent on
these stamps are put towards conservation. You can purchase
the stamps many places and your state may also issue it’s own.
In some states, stamps are purely a
collector’s item, but in others, the stamps have a similar role in
hunting and
conservation as federal duck stamps.

Have you ever purchased a
duck stamp?