Duck Stamp 2024-2025, Chuck Black/USFWS, Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved - Used by Permission
The 2024-25 duck stamp is now available to purchase. The stamp features a Northern Pintail by Montana artist Chuck Black. The Duck Stamp program is among the most successful conservation programs ever created to protect habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Federal Duck Stamps are conservation revenue stamps; 98 percent of the $25 purchase price goes directly to help acquire and protect wetland habitat and purchase conservation easements for the National Wildlife Refuge System. In the Central Valley, Sacramento, Delvan, Colusa, Stone Lakes, and Merced National Wildlife Refuges were purchased with Duck Stamp money. Buying a duck stamp is an easy way to support conservation.
Also known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, the Duck Stamp was conceived in 1934. In addition to being the only federal conservation revenue stamp, the Federal Duck Stamp is also unique in the way the stamp is created. Beginning in 1944, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service held an open art contest to determine the design of the stamp. This is the only juried art competition sponsored by the federal government. The contest attracts the very best wildlife artists in the county, and the original artwork can be breathtaking. This year’s contest to determine the 2025-26 stamp is September 19 and 20 at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. The entries will be posted online at the Federal Duck Stamp website before the competition, and the competition will be live streamed. If you want to learn more about the competition, The Million Dollar Duck is an award winning documentary that focuses on the strange and wonderful world of the Federal Duck Stamp Contest, and the eccentric nature of the contestants who enter each year for a chance at wildlife art stardom, while also reflecting upon the history and challenges facing the program (https://www.themilliondollarduckfilm.com/). You can purchase a duck stamp online. in-person at the Post Office, or at many sporting goods stores.