VERMONT — A program that has helped raise millions for habitat conservation and restoration without people needing to buy hunting licenses is celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Vermont Habitat Stamp.
The program has raised more than $1.6 million directly since 2015, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and at least $3.5 million total when including interest and matching federal money. That money supplements the department’s budget and is a means for state biologists’ conservation projects, partnerships with local landowners and nonprofits and much-needed habitat support.
“It was way more successful than I think anyone in the department had predicted,” said interim Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Andrea Shortsleeve, laughing.
The stamp in question isn’t for sending mail. Instead, it’s a reward for people who donate to protect Vermont wildlife. Donate more than $15, and to receive a 4-by-5-inch sticker with a wildlife-themed design that changes yearly. They’ve featured blue herons and black bears in the past; this year’s stamp sports orange silhouettes of a bobcat and an orchid in an evergreen forest.
The idea for the stamp program came from the long-running Federal Duck Stamp, which migratory bird hunters 16 years and older need to buy to hunt. Almost all the money from that purchase goes toward buying wetland properties to protect from development, which waterfowl and many more species call home.
Both efforts allow anyone to purchase the stamps, whether or not they buy a hunting license. The goal is for everyone to have a way to contribute toward government wildlife work.
“For years, the Vermont fish and wildlife department has depended on anglers and hunters as the primary source for funding,” said Mark LaBarr, Vermont Audubon’s conservation program manager. “It’s really nice that the Habitat Stamp allows funding from non-consumptive groups.”
The Vermont Habitat Stamp launched in 2015, and in its first two years made enough to let the department hire two new full-time biologists, Shortsleeve being one, she said.
For the following years, the program’s funds went toward projects within the state-owned Wildlife Management Areas, land the department owns and conserves for wildlife health and human enjoyment, Shortsleeve said. There are more than 100 of those areas around Vermont, and they are popular spots for hiking, fishing, hunting and birdwatching.
As the program has grown, officials say they’ve been able to put the money to projects beyond those state lands, like building a garden for native pollinators at Barr Hill, a distillery in Montpelier; consulting private landowners on habitat management; improving habitats in town forests; and supporting nonprofits like Audubon Vermont, which focuses on protecting birds.
“It’s been great because we’ve been able to do habitat management in many respects,” said LaBarr. “Invasive plant species removal on a couple of different Wildlife Management Areas, public land and private land.”
LaBarr said he has worked with Shortsleeve and her team to assess habitat health and build suitable environments for threatened species. The gold-winged warbler, a songbird whose population is rapidly declining in Vermont, has been a specific focus of the partnership.
Funding from the Vermont Habitat Stamp helped create the early successional habitats the warblers and other songbirds need to forage and nest.
Even though the program was made for birdwatchers like LaBarr, or anyone who prefers to only observe, rather than hunt, wildlife, the majority of people who purchase the Habitat Stamp are hunters or anglers, said Shortsleeve.
Take eight-time purchaser Zach Cockrum.
“I know the money collected by the conservation stamp programs can make a huge difference,” said Cockrum, who has spent much of his career in conservation work. “It’s beneficial to hunting and fishing, but the benefits extend well beyond that for songbirds and many other species.”
Donations from people like Cockrum can make a big impact. The federal government matches every dollar donated to the Habitat Stamp program roughly threefold, meaning that a $15 donation turns into $60. The state receives the funding through the federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, which gives money to state and local efforts nationally. Shortsleeve is hopeful it will be safe from budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s new administration.
“The federal funds that match this program and most of our other wildlife programs are related to excise taxes from hunting and fishing-related purchases,” she said. “So, if people purchase things like fuel for their fishing boats or buy tackle or fishing equipment or guns and ammunition, all of that has a tax associated with it that goes to fish and wildlife agencies down the line.”
The department has no plans of slowing down, Shortsleeve said, and this May will use Habitat Stamp donations for what biologists call woody stream additions, big logs strategically placed in streams and other waterways to improve habitat for brook trout and other aquatic species. The logs also trap sediment, stabilize stream banks and regulate water temperature, all of which help create a healthier ecosystem for species.
Sarah Johnsen writes for the Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
