Support Wildlife

Hunting fishing licenses and sales of tackle, guns, ammunition and other hunting equipment provide most of the funding for wildlife management in Wisconsin and most other states.

Here are some other ways that you can support wildlife management in Wisconsin.

*Become a Friend of Crex. Membership dues and other monies donated to the Friends of Crex support wildlife education and management at the Glacial Lake Grantsburg wildlife management complex (including Crex Meadows and Fish Lake Wildlife Areas).

*Donate to the Crex Meadows Land Acquisition Fund. The Friends of Crex has established a fund to help the DNR purchase key properties within the boundaries of the Glacial Lakes Grantsburg Wildlife Areas (Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, Amsterdam Sloughs, and Danbury).

*Purchase a Federal Duck Stamp. You do not need to be a hunter to purchase a stamp, and the monies collected from the sales of these annual stamps go directly to habitat management and acquisition efforts in National Wildlife Refuges and other federal lands, which are used by our birds during their spring and fall migrations.

You also gain free admission to every National Wildlife Refuge in the country by purchasing a $15 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (commonly known as a Federal Duck Stamp). Each Stamp is valid for the life of the stamp, which is July 1st through June 30th of the following year.

Possession and use of the Federal Duck Stamp is part of a broad and integrated movement to conserve birds in the 21st-century.

*Purchase Wisconsin Turkey, Pheasant and Waterfowl Stamps.

~ Sales of the Wild Turkey Stamp help provide future opportunities for turkey management and hunting in Wisconsin. All turkey hunters are required to purchase the $5.25 Turkey Stamp to legally hunt turkeys in Wisconsin. Sales of the Turkey Stamp bring in more than $800,000 annually for habitat management and restoration projects, education, research, equipment, and the management of the wild turkey program in our state.

~ Sales of the $10 Pheasant Stamp bring in more than $370,000 annually for the development, management, conservation, and maintenance of the wild pheasant population in the state, with an additional contribution to the stocking of put-and-take pheasants on Wisconsin’s public hunting grounds. A pheasant stamp is required to hunt pheasants in the state of Wisconsin.

~ Proceeds from the sale of the $7 Waterfowl Stamp are used for developing, managing, preserving, restoring, and maintaining wetland habitat in Wisconsin and Canada for waterfowl and other wetland-associated species. Wisconsin duck and goose hunters are required to purchase “stamp approval” through the Automated License Issuance System (ALIS) in order to have a valid license, but will not receive an actual stamp unless they request it. DNR Service Centers will have the stamps available for free to everyone with stamp approval. Anyone else interest in collecting the stamp may purchase one directly from the DNR. For information contact the DNR call center (888) WDNR-INFo, or the online service center http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cs/

Of course, you can always purchase hunting and fishing licenses without actually going hunting.

*Join other wildlife support groups, such as the local chapters of Ducks Unlimited and Whitetails Unlimited, the Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society, and The Audubon Society (there is a new club formed recently in the St. Croix River Area).

*Vote for local, state, and federal candidates who support wildlife management, hunting, conservation, and environmental causes.

Click here to go to the WI-DNR website to learn how Wisconsin spends the funding from hunting and fishing licenses.

Click here for a blog about wildlife management funding