> Audubon, Nature Conservancy, National resources Defense Council, > Wilderness Society, American Rivers,etc., etc.
I appreciate some of those organizations and even belong to at least one, but I wonder if any of those organizations are as efficient with their money as the duck stamp program. Less than 2% of the money from duck stamps goes to administrative costs, the rest goes to buying up habitat--that's over 98%. I really am surprised at the notion that because birders aren't "harvesting" ducks they shouldn't have to help buy up habitat so they can have the right to watch birds for free. You can watch birds anywhere, great birds are in backyards, but we need those breeding grounds in place to keep seeing them. Duck stamps help support other birds like warblers, rails, herons, egrets, raptors, owls, etc. Right now, duck hunters have to buy a stamp, but their numbers are going down. If those numbers continue to decline, so will money for buying up habitat and all the birders who feel that they can use the resource for free won't have much resource left to look at, let alone the birds that benefit from that habitat. Sharon Stiteler Minneapolis, MN www.birdchick.com Bird/Wildlife Observation Specialist for www.eagleoptics.com
