Funding for Land Acquisition

Credit: USFWS

There are two funding sources used to acquire lands for the Service and one is the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the other is the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.

Public Law 88-578, approved September 3, 1964, (78 Stat. 897) created the Land and Water Conservation Fund, derived from various types of revenue and authorizes appropriations from the fund for

• matching grants to States for outdoor recreation projects and
• land acquisition for various Federal agencies.

The Migratory Bird Conservation Fund provides the Department of the Interior with financing for the acquisition of migratory bird habitat. There are four major sources for money for the Fund. The most well-known source is the revenue received from the sale of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as Duck Stamps, as provided for under the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act of March 18, 1934, as amended. The other three major sources include appropriations authorized by the Wetlands Loan Act of October 4, 1961, as amended; import duties collected on arms and ammunition; and receipts from the sale of refuge admission permits as provided for by the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986. The fund is further supplemented by receipts from the sale of products from right-of-way across national wildlife refuge, disposals of refuge lands, and reverted Federal Aid funds.

Credit: USFWS