Overview. Commonly known as the Duck Stamp Act, this Act requires use of a migratory bird stamp for hunting, and raises funds for the conservation of migratory waterfowl by the 1916 migratory bird treaty between the U.S. and Canada.

Selected Definitions. Migratory waterfowl:  the species enumerated in paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of Article I of the 1916 treaty between the U.S. and Canada for the protection of migratory birds. § 718.

Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. No persons who have attained the age of sixteen may take any migratory waterfowl without carrying on their person an unexpired Federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp, which the person has signed across its face. These stamps shall be issued and sold by the Postal Service and may be sold by the Department of the Interior at post offices and other authorized locations. §§ 718a and 718b.

Disposition of Receipts from Sale of Stamps. All moneys received from stamp sales shall be reserved and set aside in a special migratory bird conservation fund, to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary). Moneys received into the fund are appropriated for the following purposes, and shall be available for these purposes until expended:   the engraving, printing, issuing, selling and accounting for migratory bird hunting stamps and moneys received from their sale; locating and acquiring suitable areas for migratory bird refuges under the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, summarized separately in this book, and paying the administrative costs incurred in the acquisition of such areas; acquiring small wetland and pothole areas, interests therein and rights-of-way to provide access thereto (waterfowl protection areas). § 718d.

Fees received from the stamp design contests held by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are credited first to the costs of administering the contests and second to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. § 718j.

Compliance with Treaty Regulations and State Game Laws. Migratory waterfowl can be taken only in accordance with regulations adopted and approved pursuant to treaties or conventions between the U.S. and other countries for the protection of migratory birds. Also, no one is exempted by the Act from complying with state game laws. § 718c.

Enforcement. No person shall alter or counterfeit a stamp, or loan or transfer a stamp to any other person during the period of its validity. § 718e.

Persons violating the Duck Stamp Act or its regulations are subject to the penalties provided in § 707 of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which is summarized in this book, and birds and parts of birds taken or possessed contrary to the Duck Stamp Act are to be disposed of by the Secretary in accordance with law. The Secretary is authorized to cooperate with the states and territories in enforcing the Act. §§ 718f-718h.