New federal duck stamps would offer nod to technology, tradition

Remember the day when you purchased a trout stamp, a Colorado River stamp or a state duck stamp and in return for your money received a tangible, physical stamp that you licked and stuck to the back of your hunting license?

Most of you probably do. But believe it or not, some sportsmen don't recall that day. For many of the youngest generation of hunters and anglers, a stamp always has come in the form of an electronic phrase that is printed out on a computer-generated license. On my license, for example, you'll find four "stamps," but I didn't have to lick and stick any of them. One is identified by the words "Upland Game Bird Stamp," and another reads "NV Second Rod Stamp."

Some people, such as stamp collectors and sportsmen who have saved every license and stamp they have purchased, don't appreciate the electronic stamp. In return for their money, they want something they can see or hold in their hands. Not being a collector of stamps, however, I don't miss the physical stamp. The pictures of ducks or trout were nice to look at, but I don't miss licking that nasty-tasting glue to get the stamp to stick to the back of my license.

Another great thing about the electronic stamp is it won't blow away in the wind when you show your license to the local game warden. The old-fashioned physical stamp was known to do so on occasion.

While an increasing number of states are selling electronic stamps to go with electronic licenses, the one stamp that hasn't been widely available in electronic format is the federal duck stamp. But that might be about to change.

H.R. 3117, also known as the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2011, would give the U.S. Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize states to issue electronic duck stamps. If passed, you could have something like "Federal Duck Stamp" printed on the back of your computer-generated hunting license.

Historically, waterfowl hunters and collectors could purchase duck stamps only at certain locations such as the local post office, but not all post offices carried the stamps. As such, one might have to try a number of locations before finding one that sold the stamp. Not convenient.

Federal legislation passed in 2005 created a pilot program that permitted hunters to instantly use federal duck stamps purchased online. With a special receipt, hunters could pursue waterfowl while waiting for the stamp to arrive in the mail.

While testifying in favor of H.R. 3117 before the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Scott Sutherland, Ducks Unlimited director of governmental affairs, said, "The pilot program has successfully made it easier for the general public to buy federal duck stamps while simultaneously preserving the integrity of the traditional duck stamp."

If you're a stamp collector, don't worry. If passed as written, H.R. 3117 requires that a physical duck stamp be sent to each person who purchases an electronic federal duck stamp. According to Ducks Unlimited, funds generated through the sale of federal duck stamps have been used to purchase, buy easements or lease more than 6 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the United States during the past 77 years.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.