by Kip Koss All of us who love duck stamps know that there is more to the program than just being among the most beautiful set of stamps ever issued by the federal government. When Jay N. “Ding” Darling pushed through the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act in 1934, it was against all odds. Our country was in the midst of a severe economic depression with accompanying depression of confidence and spirit. At the same time a severe drought prevailed in the prairie states, our wetland resources were rapidly disappearing and waterfowl populations were plummeting. In an era when hunting still provided the meat on many tables, it seemed there were more hunters than ducks. The Federal Duck Stamp Act required that each waterfowl hunter purchase a Duck Stamp to affix to his or her hunting license. Sidestepping the hazards encountered by later so-called “Trust Funds,” Darling crafted his legislation to ensure that all receipts from sales of Duck Stamps went directly to the purchase of critical wetland habitat. In the past three-quarters of a century since the advent of Duck Stamp sales, the program has been responsible for acquiring and protecting over five million acres of habitat. As the number of hunters has decreased, the purchase of Federal Duck Stamps by collectors has made an increasingly significant contribution to saving our nation’s wetlands. While hunters still represent the largest number of purchasers of duck stamps, the collector input is huge. We can track their contribution by comparing the sales of self-adhesive duck stamps to the sales of gummed stamps. Gummed stamps are mainly sold to collectors. They are not available at sporting goods stores nor at many post offices, the normal distribution centers for hunters. Approximately 100,000 gummed stamps are sold per year at $15 each. That is $1.5 million going into the conservation fund that may be contributed by people who have never raised a shotgun to their shoulder. It is problematical that duck stamp revenues have always been quoted in thenyear dollars, unadjusted for inflation. Using the Federal Duck Stamp Office’s unadjusted revenue figures, I applied inflation factors supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop inflation adjusted Federal Duck Stamp Program revenues. To say that the first year of duck stamp sales in 1934 totaled $635,001, while accurate, is nonsensical. Adjusted to today’s dollars, with which we are all more familiar, first years sales totaled $9,086,864. Similarly, total duck stamp sales through 2004 are often stated as “nearly $700 million.” Adjusted to 2005 dollars, duck stamp sales from 1934 through 2004 actually total $1,922,780,770 or “nearly two billion dollars.” I believe that the inflation adjusted numbers more accurately reflect to our audiences the critical contribution of the Federal Duck Stamp Program to the acquisition and preservation of wetland habitat. At some point in the future, the continuation of the Federal Duck Stamp Program may well depend on the better understanding of the significance of the program that can only be conveyed by using inflation adjusted numbers in our presentations. Koss, president of the Ding Darling Foundation, has followed the inspiration of his grandfather, dedicating his life to conservation.