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The Standard Sportsman
Lifelong Arkansas waterfowlers Brent Birch and Cason Short discuss duck hunting's past, present, and future with various thought-provoking leaders in the duck-hunting community. The guys will discuss days afield, waterfowl conservation, and stewardship with the goal of leaving the sport of duck and goose hunting better than they found it.
Presented by Yeti, Tom Beckbe, Lile Real Estate, Sitka Gear, Purina Pro Plan, and Ducks Unlimited.
The Standard Sportsman
The Most Impactful $25 in Duck Hunting
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Born during the Dust Bowl era, the Federal Duck Stamp was created to provide a permanent funding source for wetland conservation. More than 90 years and $1.3 billion later, it remains one of the greatest conservation success stories in American history. But as habitat continues to disappear and threats such as the recent drain tile setback issue emerge, protecting the Duck Factory will require more from duck hunters. The guys break down the Buy Two Duck Stamps campaign, where the money goes and why a second stamp may be the best $25 a duck hunter can spend on the future of the sport. Visit www.buytwoduckstamps.com for more information.
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Welcome to the Standard Sportsman Podcast, where duck and goose hunting's hottest topics meet a mission to leave the resort better than we found it. Lifelong Arkansas hunter conservationist Kasten Short and Brent Birch bring you thought-provoking conversations with entifed guests before, during, and after the season. Glad you're here. Let's get into it.
SPEAKER_01Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Standard Sportsman. This is Catan Short, joined as always with Brent Birch. Brent, you've got a pretty cool project that's uh, I guess by the time this air has been rocking on for about a week. Um, pretty cool campaign, and I'm not gonna take credit for it because this was really your baby. Um why don't you tell everybody what what you got going?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I mean, but yeah, don't don't sell yourself short because the the rallying of the troops around the the idea, uh you definitely pitched in on that. But the yeah, the concept it really isn't new uh by any means. Uh but yeah, what we've done is is really tried to get a lot of brands and people in the waterfowling community, online, offline, to rally around purchasing an extra duct stamp. Uh it's something I've done for a long time. Uh, you know, kind of before they did the digital license, you know, I bought one that I carried with me that you had to sign and paste to your license. And then always bought another one just because you know, to keep as a keepsake. So I have all these duct stamps dating back to early 90s. So, you know, I've been doing it a while, but um this is uh an effort that probably has raised a little more attention here lately, especially coming off this whole drain tile setback issue, which we have talked about on the show. Everybody, uh if you are not under a rock, you heard about it. Um and that was directly related to you know the funds that come from selling duck stamps go to protecting those easements and and future habitat, obtaining more habitat. So it kind of rolled off of that momentum of that deal. And then when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife came out and said, we're not gonna do anything right now on this. Uh hunters have spoken up, we're gonna sit tight for the time being. Um, I'm not 100% sure that it's over over. Uh, you have a senator in North Dakota still raising quite a stink over it. Um, but that that momentum with all that happened, everybody was like high fiving, and then it just kind of stopped. And this to me, that I it just kind of popped back in our head because if you remember, we talked about doing this last year. Uh not as maybe as grandiose as we've we've pushed it this year, but we talked about, you know, let's let's put it out there. Everybody should buy two stamps because 90 cents, 98 cents out of every dollar goes towards protecting habitat and acquiring more habitat uh for ducks in in the in the prairie pothole region of the United States. So we didn't do it, we got busy, uh, kind of fell to the way wayside, but this year we off the momentum of that drain tile setback issue, we decided to run with it. And we started talking to more of our friends and uh, you know, with some of the brands, uh obviously our sponsors of the podcast, and then we uh just started talking to more and more, and of course they were all great idea, would love to be be behind this deal. And some of them are even competitors with some of our sponsors, some of them are you know brands you and I don't actively use, but but they saw the good of the cause um and um have really rallied behind it. And I really appreciate that uh from these guys, but uh but yeah, we've launched a full-on campaign encouraging folks to buy two or more uh duck stamps this year, and and let's let's increase that pot of money to to protect these wetlands.
SPEAKER_01It's uh I don't know, common sense conservation, right? And it's such a simple simple thing. Um, and you're right, it's not an original idea. It's you know, people have have run around with it before. Um but it's really cool, I think, given the climate today, because you're exactly right. You know, we we had we've had a lot of momentum around drain tile setbacks, and you know, we did an episode kind of talked, we talked about that a little bit in a segment, and I've had some conversation with folks at DU about it. You know, that you and I I'll speak for myself, I guess. I was both pleased and disappointed with the numbers that that filled out the survey and responded to that, right? Like I was pleased that that many did it, but I was still disappointed that there weren't more because when you look at duck stamp sales, you look at how many hunters there are in the US, you know, it it just it could have been more. It wasn't there's room for growth, right? So happy that people took the time. We still need to get the word out better. But you're right, it kind of died. I I think when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife put that out, everyone took it as okay, you guys won, we're not doing anything. I read it a little differently. Um, I took it like no need to do any more. We we heard you, we're we're gonna we're gonna weigh our options. So maybe it stays, maybe it comes back, I don't know. But this is the perfect time to continue to make our voices heard, to continue to have an impact, and really show everybody, uh, you know, politicians included, that that we we matter and we're willing to vote with our wallet.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, that's exactly it. And for a whole $25. I mean, it's it's the it's the best $25 a duck hunter can spend. I mean, uh so much of the other stuff we have in this sport is so expensive. And yes, indirectly it does benefit conservation when you when you purchase things related to this sport. We've talked about Pittman Robertson Act and some other other ways some money is funneled towards that. But this is a this is an easy one, and it's it's super easy to trace where the money goes. Um it is it is exactly it goes exactly 98 cents of every dollar goes to what it's supposed to go to. It's there's not some chunked offer marketing and some chunked off to pay salaries and uh some to do you know, do this or do that. It it goes into the the uh fund to um you know try to acquire and protect these things, as mentioned. So uh we spent a lot more than $25 on stuff uh as duck hunters are really good at doing. So um, yeah, it's just it was just an easy, easy spend. And and I took it the same way as you did. The way that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release came out related to that, uh, you know, I believe it said we're not gonna do anything further as we review the information available, something to that effect. So I yeah, I don't know that it's a done deal, done deal um on the drain tile setbacks, but it it's definitely made them hit pause, uh, which was I consider that a success for the time being. And then you have to rely on the the lobbying folks at Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl and you know the uh Theodore Roosevelt conservation program, you know, all those things that are involved in protecting uh you know habitat for wildlife, uh, to really work their magic in DC, they're just gonna have a thorn in their side with this this uh senator from North Dakota because it in case you haven't seen, he after kind of somewhat lost this effort to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change the drain tile setbacks. He now has said because of that, he's not gonna approve any of Trump's appointees to uh whatever, whatever department uh in government that he tries to appoint someone to, he's not gonna support it. He's gonna be a thorn in in the side until he gets his way, which is uh unbelievable to think that someone does that on Capitol Hill, but that's what he's doing. Oh, yeah, so it happens. Yeah, it it does happen behind closed doors. This guy's very out there, I mean, very vocal that that's what he's doing, uh, which is a head scratcher, but uh that that's just goes to show you you need to pay attention to who you vote for um in some situations and not just not just pick a guy because he's he's the right party. I mean it for us in a in a as small of group as duck hunters are, we gotta pick the right guys that are worried about the same things we're worried about or for the same things we're for. Um and I I'm not saying you gotta cross party lines, but you gotta you gotta pay attention to that stuff and not put people in in a position to jeopardize something that our little small audience really cares about. Uh and this particular guy is is right there in the middle of it. So um, yeah, it's uh I'm not sure it's over. That's why I think even more important to spend you gotta buy one anyway. I mean that was kind of the the tagline of the of the campaign is buy one could you because you have to, buy two because you want to. Uh that you you want to support wildlife and you want to support conservation, you want to support habitat. Um and that's that's what it is. And I don't know how as a duck hunter you would even bat an eye at spending an extra 25 bucks. Um I mean you could spend that at Sonic today, you know, on lunch for you and the and the missus. So I mean, yeah, 25 bucks is slam dunk and it goes, it just goes such a long ways.
SPEAKER_01Well, it does, absolutely. We we already touched on you know 98 cents of every dollar. You know, if we you know, we we can talk in harvest and telemetry data and all the other things we want to talk about, but what what really matters is production. That's the source of of all of our problems from Louisiana all the way up, right? It's it is production based. Um and this goes to protect and and create as much nesting habitat as possible through the funding. So, you know, I'm looking at 24, 25 numbers here, but if you look at license sales, even the kind of average out across there, if everybody that bought a license were to buy an extra stamp, we're talking close to $40 million a year extra funding. I know that's not going to happen. That's an unrealistic goal. But think about the potential of what we could do if we had an extra $40 million a year to preserve nesting habitat. It'd be phenomenal. Oh, unbelievable. Unbelievable. Duck dogs work hard, help yours perform at its best with Purina ProPlan. Outstanding nutrition with real meat as the number one ingredient. Proplan sport is made to feel hardworking dogs like yours. For increased endurance, joint support, and muscle tone, it all starts with Pro Plan Sport.
SPEAKER_03The Standard Sportsman is brought to you by Noah Perry, financial advisor with Raymond James and Associates. Like you, Noah is an avid sportsman. He was raised in a family where duck hunting tradition and conserving our natural resources runs deep. Like you, he understands that success in the field requires proper planning, discipline, and patience, and most importantly, a high level of trust. Trust in your gear, trust in your dog, trust in your hunting partners. As a financial advisor with Raymond James, he brings that same understanding and partners with his clients to build tailored investment strategies and comprehensive plans, delivering a personalized experience built on trust and around your goals. Call Noah today at 501-313-7313 or send an email to noah.perry at RaymondJames.com. Noah Perry with Raymond James, personal by nature, trusted by design.
SPEAKER_01I'll say this in defense of farmers a little bit. Uh, you know, I know that those drain tile setbacks, those agreements were voluntary. I know a lot of the people that own that property now were not the ones that owned it when it happened. I know some of those pay rates were very low, you know, but an extra 40 million a year could help settle that issue in a real and meaningful way for both parties. Um now I'm I lean pretty hard to the fence of it was voluntary and it was agreed upon. There's no going back on that. But I do understand, you know, from the profitability side of agriculture where some of those guys are at. I I know it's an issue and I'm afraid it hasn't been really put to bed. So this effort it's a big effort. I mean, and it's important too. The I mean the funding, what we could achieve is could be really amazing. Um yeah. And I think you look at how quickly and readily people accepted the invitation to get on board. I mean, most with no questions asked, like, yeah, what can we do? Um it was pretty pretty uplifting and significant as well.
SPEAKER_00It is because uh I think a lot of the brands sometimes I I think and it I I believe it came to light a lot. We talked about it some on that that social experiment episode that we did kind of after the the wave of the drain tile setback deal. We kind of stepped back and analyzed it a little bit, and and there there's no doubt there were hunters taking notes as to who got behind this thing and tried to rally the troops around that issue and who didn't. Um and uh I think people recognize that or brands are recognizing that that they gotta they gotta play. If you I mean if you want a volume of hunters to buy your product, you gotta keep them in the game, and you gotta keep them in the game by them having an enjoyable experience, and enjoyable experience of all the great things duck hunting provides, in the end, it is it is duck hunting. And so, you know, you like to shoot a few. And uh to shoot a few, you got to have a few. And so that's that's kind of where we're we stood, we stand with all this, and and I think a lot of brands have started to pick up on it. Um, and not that they don't dabble in conservation. Uh, you know, we've we've referenced Sitka, uh obviously uh, you know, we've got some sponsorship ties with the podcast on that. They have a whole grant program tied to conservation that probably doesn't get a lot of headlines social media-wise, but it's out there. So and and I know there's other brands doing the same thing. I mean, I can I can talk on the same hand about Shin, who, you know, is on a competitive level. They have done some efforts with Ducks Unlimited, uh, you know, in a conservation way that maybe doesn't get played up as much as some other things. So I I say all that so people aren't going to sit there and go, well, of course he's gonna say that about his podcast sponsor, but uh Shin's not a podcast sponsor, and I know they do some things. And there's other, you could go through the whole list of all the people that supported this campaign. And if you go to the website, which is buy to buy to duckstamps.com, you'll see all the brands that supported this. Some of them are even podcasts that not that we're competitors, but uh yeah, you fight for people's time and for people's uh ability to sit and listen to an hour-long podcast. So uh we even collaborated with some of those peers in in that world uh that have some overlapping audience and probably have some totally different audience. So it was really cool uh through this effort to see a lot of folks within the arena uh kind of kind of start pulling on the same end of the rope a little bit for the for the betterment of the sport.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I've said that, you know, a number of times. Um we've talked about it with other ideas as well, you know, and I've mentioned it here on the show. The the exclusivity, you know, kind of rubs me the wrong way sometimes when it comes to conservation because everyone should have a seat at the table. So, you know, that was our idea and our response when we started reaching out to folks was okay, yeah, you know, Sitka's the sponsor and they advertise here, but we contacted Chen and Bandit and Drake. You know, come on, let's all push this initiative because that, you know, conservation is what matters, not your alignment or uh, I'm not gonna say friends, because we've got friends at every in in every one of those houses. But um, you know, that's a significant piece there is that everybody can come together and acknowledge that you know we may have our own little tribes here and there, but we're we're duck hunters first. Um and I would encourage anybody that's that's listened to this or has seen that obviously you you're listening to this. If you've seen the post online, you know, go to that website, buy2duckstamps.com, go look at the number of people who committed to help and spread the word and read that list. And it is a very encouraging list of people all across the waterfowl space uh who care enough to take the time to do it. So I uh I think I mentioned before we started here, Brent, I was reading it off to my wife last night before it launched, and uh about halfway through I just stopped reading names. It's like, well, you get the idea, it's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is. And and for a point of clarity, we didn't reach out to every brand there is. There's lots of brands that aren't on there. And the and the reason they're not on there is we don't have a direct relationship with them. Um you know, the uh almost every company you see on, I would say 99.9% of the companies you see on there, we actually know the the folks involved uh at some level with it and have some relationship with them. And so that that made the invite really easy. And you know, it's just the two of us. We we don't really we don't have a marketing department that's gonna reach out to every brand uh from coast to coast to to get them on board, but I will say it is an open invite. I've talked to several this morning that saw the post and were like, How can we help? Uh saw it, you know, through another channel uh and uh more than willing to jump on board and share and and do some things to to promote this because they see what the impact it can have. So yeah, you won't see every brand in the game. So don't think because you don't see them, they're not supporting. Uh they may not they may just not have been tapped by us uh due to the time constraints of we're just two dudes that have other other responsibilities, and we we do this podcast and we we made a because we did this in less than a week, we turned this whole thing around in less than a week and and rallied this kind of support uh for this campaign through just text messages and emails and some direct messages through social media, uh just with relationships that we have and and it's amazing how far that can go. Um and you know, the belief that this is a this is a thing to rally behind. So point being, if you don't see a brand on there, don't don't think that they said no or they're not they weren't interested. They probably just weren't contacted. Uh so uh I would encourage those brands, if you like to get involved with this, come on, because I don't think this campaign ends with a with a one or two day stretch of posts. Um I mean this is an effort that's gonna have to carry till we get into duck season where everybody is is buying stamps. Not everybody buys stamps in August. Not that you can't buy your one extra one now, and that's kind of the point of this campaign, buy your one extra one now. And then when you renew your license or or buy your stamp through your state agency so it's tied to your license, like in Arkansas, we have the online app. So you would want everything you know that to fall under there. So you this this campaign really is buying your extra stamp, whether you put this one in a drawer, whether you carry this one, so when your buddy shows up and says, Man, I forgot to buy a federal stamp, you've got one handy, whatever it is. Um this is an opportunity to to do that, and you don't have to stop it too. I mean, if you have the means to spend a hundred bucks on four duck stamps, by all means go for it. Uh, because you you know where that's going. $98 out of that hundred is going to protect habitat. So um, you know, it this it made a lot of sense to the brands, a lot of it made a lot of sense to the friends of ours in the industry. Uh, I hate calling it an industry, but it but it is in the end, it's kind of what it is. So um community is probably a better word, but um yeah, uh it was just it was an easy sell, but uh I hope more come on board. And and truth be told, because we talked about this a lot in that uh social experiment episode, this is gonna have to carry on beyond social media to have huge impact. Uh you're gonna have to reach out to all your hunting buddies, say, man, when you get your duck stamp this year, buy two. Um or go to this website and buy your extra one. Uh, and to be clear, we're not selling them. All we're doing is presenting who's behind this so hunters will realize, man, this is a this is a real deal. This isn't just two dudes down in Arkansas trying to push an agenda. Uh, this is a legit campaign uh that we're kind of at the tip of the spear, and then we've got a lot of uh folks really rallying behind it because they know the importance. So all we're doing is pass along the traffic to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to buy your stamp. Uh there's no there's no benefit to us. We didn't we didn't make any money or you didn't have to pay to play or anything like that. So um we're just passing you along to the to the US Fish and Wildlife to buy your stamp or your extra stamp. Uh this is just a home base to to kind of showcase how big a thing all the brands that we wear, this is how big a thing they think it is, maybe you ought to get on board with it too. But some of that's gonna have to take place offline.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah. And I even in what we're saying right there, you know, if you're listening to this, you go through that list, if you've got a conversation. Contact, if you know somebody, if you're at a brand who whose name is not on there and you want to get involved, man, message us. I mean, it's as simple as just sharing the post and talking about it. And it is a a low barrier to entry to be involved in this project because ultimately it's I think it's kind of you know about putting egos aside and and doing what's good for the ducks. And conservation funding is paramount to our success. So um it's encouraging so far. And to your point, you know, this this will air kind of a weekend of this campaign, but this runs all year, you know, and and I'm sure next off season we'll fire it back up again and just keep on hammering with this thing because it hopefully it never stops. It will always be uh an initiative to encourage people to to purchase two. So yeah, I hope I hope all the brands that are involved, you know, you you guys that that make reels, share stories, whatever, like anytime you're you're talking to your audience, remind them, you know, Utah, give me two.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you gotta love the gotta love the point break reference. I couldn't help myself. I know I don't carry how many people get that, but uh, as soon as you sent it last night that that was what you're you were gonna go with in the post, I was like, that's good, that's pretty good stuff.
SPEAKER_01It's sad. I I work that into nearly daily vernacular.
SPEAKER_00So that's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. But uh, but yeah, you're gonna see this carry on. Uh, you know, I've uh I've talked to Chuck Locke at Max. So you, you know, somebody listening to this show may be strolling into Macs and you may see something pushing by you two stamps because they plan on promoting it. You know, a lot of people show up in town, want to go duck hunting, uh, and they go to Macs to buy, you know, get all licensed up and and uh and get their stamps. So they're gonna push it. Um you're gonna see it. Uh hopefully, we're still working on this, uh, trying to get some of the state agencies to make an emphasis on it too. Hey, while you're here, why don't you get you an extra stamp? And and buy an extra state stamp too. I mean, because that that money goes towards things locally. So don't uh you don't have to stop at a federal stamp. You can buy two uh you know state stamps for wherever you wherever you live. And I I would encourage these guys that travel all over the place and hunt multiple states, they should be buying a stamp in every state they go hunt. Uh if you're gonna take advantage of that much territory uh to chase a duck, I think you owe it back to the duck itself to you know buy you one for every state that you go to. You're not required to, you know, as far as a federal stamp. You can buy one federal stamp and go hunt all 50 states if you wanted to. But uh these guys that are bouncing around uh chasing them, I I think that should be a kind of a deal to consider. Uh every state you go to, when you go up and sign up for that state's license and buy their state stamp when you're doing your thing, go ahead and pop another federal stamp in there. Let that money go towards uh the good stuff that that it does.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a fair point. And and I don't think that's a really really lofty ask, you know. You're going on that hunt, the stuff a federal stamp's not that big a deal compared in comparison to the overall cost of that hunt. The Ducks Unlimited National Trip Auction is live. If your perfect trip starts before sunrise and ends with a full memory card, this is where you begin. Explore waterfowl trips, upland fishing, big game experiences, and more, all in one place. Head to Ducks.org slash NTA. The DU National Trip Auction is presented by In case you've been living under a rock lately and you hadn't noticed, Sitka Gear has launched their new line of fishing gear. Everything from the radiant sun hoodie to riser active shorts, even Sitka sandals. Look, I'm a pretty big fan of flip-flops in the summertime. I got those last year when they first came out, and legitimately, like legit good sandals. Love them. Go check it out, man. From rain gear, sun shirts, you name it, uh, even fishing waiters, their line has expanded greatly and definitely deserves checking out.
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SPEAKER_01You know, I want to I really want to push people to get behind this and talk about it and share it. And, you know, let's really blow it up because I'm sitting here thinking about like what this thing can become and how big it can be. You know, how cool would it be next year when everybody rolls into Ducks about this same time for all the brands that we see listed on that page for all these uh apparel manufacturers? Imagine if we had a bunch of hats to give away, you know, like push some logo on it, make a whole initiative, and and now if you could if you show that you've bought your two stamps, you get a free hat, you know, or something trivial, but just that kind of grassroots conservation effort, you know, that this thing can can become, particularly, you know, if it's seen a lot, if these brands that are involved right now see the response from the audience, like, yeah, putting our name with those two morons really gained us a lot of traction and seemed to do something, you know. So I want to encourage everyone, you know, to get behind it and and uh try not to let us embarrass ourselves by calling all these people and telling this was gonna be a great thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know, it's just a no-brainer. Um, yeah, I just don't I because I don't think I mean who okay, say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, okay, 2027 federal duck stamp is gonna be 50 bucks. Would that keep you from buying a $50 duck stamp? Absolutely not. No, no, not compared to the everything else we spend in this sport. I mean, we're some people are lobbing $25 a throw shells at ducks.
SPEAKER_01I will say, man, every time license goes up, people complain. Oh my god, it's unreal. Yeah, and it's the cheapest, it's the cheapest part of the experience.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no question. No question about it. Uh yeah, you take a what is this what is a state stamp now? 10. I don't have to buy one because I have a lifetime license. So uh I still I I buy I buy a round for my my family uh because somebody inevitably always needs one. Uh that kind of deal. So, you know, I am I am purchasing, uh, but that's covered under my lifetime license. I don't pay as close of attention because I buy them in bulk. You know, that money goes to something valuable. I mean, license sales and stamp sales are are a huge component of huge this sport. I mean, you there's there's just no way around it. And and you can sit and complain and complain and complain about flooded corn and weather and you know all these other things, you probably yourself have zero chance of impacting. An investment in an extra duck stamp guarantees you you are crystal clear where that money goes and what it's for. And that and that benefits everybody. It doesn't matter whether you're in coastal Louisiana or you're you know in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, where ducks are are breeding, or you're any state in between. Uh, because in the central part of the state, central flyway, Mississippi Flyway, you're gonna benefit from that. Now, the Atlantic Flyway, I I would think the federal duck stamp's being used to protect habitat there too. Um but uh you know, obviously the PPR gets a lot of attention, and and I don't know how many of their ducks come from there, probably not a whole lot, but or the Pacific Flyway the same way, but it's a federal, it's a federal pot of money, so I would think it would be spent coast to coast, border to border, um, protecting all this stuff. Just this the PPR gets just a lot of attention, uh, obviously, but uh uh it benefits everybody that that chases these ducks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, it's a huge ecosystem, you know, and it it just affects so much well beyond just the ducks and geese that that we pursue. Um it's a really unique uh piece of the earth. Um so I mean it that just saying that to kind of stress the importance of the area. Um but yeah, I mean it's just common sense. You're it's like buying shares in the stock market, right? Like you're just making an investment in your own future.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's exactly it. Um yeah, I our our resident state duck stamp is still seven bucks.
SPEAKER_01It's really I why was I think there's maybe my maybe my sportsman's license is like 1050?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Uh I don't know. R resent non-resident stamp is 50 bucks. Um obviously that is not keeping people from coming. We sell more to non-residents, we sell more duck stamps to non-residents than we do to residents. So the $50 price tag on a non-resident stamp hasn't slowed anybody down.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, I'm not I don't want to weigh into that right now. This is a positive episode.
SPEAKER_00That's right. But uh just you you talk about price point kind of thing. Yeah. Um, I mean, let some of this money stack up. Because yeah, you want to fight off a lobby because surely people listening are aware the ag lobby is a lot bigger and stronger than the duck in waterfowl lobby. Oh, yeah. Uh so uh, you know, if you want to be able to offset that, even though you say, okay, we give the the feds okay, let's do it just kind of on simple math. Uh if if all 220,000 people that did the uh submit a comment to the federal register on the drain tile setback, if they all bought a extra duck stamp, that would be in the ballpark of five and a half million dollars. Okay, so that's extra, that's money that uh you you know the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was not previously getting, or the what is it? The it's the migratory bird conservation fund. That's where the money actually goes. Uh so it doesn't it doesn't go into some department and they get to kind of figure out it goes into this fund, which is dedicated to what you know what we're talking about, protecting and enhancing and adding to uh wetland habitat. So um that five and a half million dollars, okay, well that doesn't get us that far. But if you okay, but you if you do that every year and you're throwing an extra five and a half million on top of what they already collect from the 1.25 million hunters, then you start building a kitty that you can go and and go, okay, I understand why the landowner that currently has this land that somebody way back when, 50, 60, 70 years ago, gave up as a wetland at easement for pennies compared to today. Maybe you get them off the the desire to chase adding more ground to farm around these wetlands by being able to buy them out of it with these extra funds. And then maybe this this whole thing kind of just slides away. Because uh you're a farmer, would you rather be paid the equivalent to not farm what you know what all you have? Guaranteed you're getting this money for this ground, doesn't matter what grain prices are, doesn't matter what inputs are, you get this, or would you rather farm it and roll the dice on it? Because these easements, you could be buying these guys out of whatever these little slivers of land that they're wanting to add to their already uh ag production acreage. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, 100%. I mean I I probably haven't been as outspoken as this on this show as I am in private, but uh yeah, I mean we we that's what we should be doing. We should be funding the conservation effort of taking this marginal ag land out of production and restoring it. I mean, what what's the moniker there? Farm the best, restore the rest. Yeah, you know, that's how this should be going. Um and as much as somebody may be irritated that whatever agreement doesn't pay their, didn't pay them enough or doesn't pay them anything because they didn't own it then, or whatever else, you know, we we really should be looking around going, man, why do we clear this stuff? Why did we try to drain that? Why did we try to do all of this stuff? Because, you know, once you destroy these places, it's really, really difficult to get them back. Um and it's it's a shame that there is a there is a large appetite for these conservation programs, these restoration programs, and and there's a lot of funding out there, but like any other government project that the government gets its hands in, the the loopholes and the contingencies and just the way it all works out, the the vehicle to deliver that funding to the end user that wants to restore property is it's in shambles. I mean, it's just a it's a disaster to put it lightly. Yeah. Um, so I don't want to get off on all that, but the the funding matters, you know, because even is even with funding, it's hard to get it done. Or maybe it's a competition of it. That maybe that's why all the the criteria is there. If there was just you know an overabundance of funding, it would be easier to get that to the end user. But but it does. It all starts with funding.
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SPEAKER_01And you made up you brought up a point about the ag lobby. You know, if you don't think that we're in competition with the ag lobby, you know, you're you're kidding yourself. Um, and I'm not trying to attack farmers, I am one, but you need to realize that when you look at the farm bill and you you look at some of these disaster relief programs that have gone to farmers in the last few years, you know, that's because of the ag lobby that's getting that done. And you need to realize that that disaster relief for farmers isn't going to farmers, it flows in one hand right out the other and goes right back to the big ag business and pays them. So that lobby is just paying themselves. You know, that that money doesn't stay in a farmer's hands, it just pays his debt at the end of the year.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Yeah, that and that's a good that's a good point. Um yeah, I mean, the the truth of the matter is, and you hear it all the time, you especially here in the in the land brokerage businesses, you know, but the they're not making any more of it, you know. And we we see the shrinking of habitat going in record numbers. And the the reason why this is so important in this window that we're in, we're not seeing a lot of response by the guys north of the border to do a lot for ducks, like maybe they did you know, a decade ago, 20 20 years ago, 30 years ago. You're seeing big ag has come into the prairie pothole region, and they're not gonna have a lot of concern for a duck. It's all about the dollar uh and the bottom line. And as dry as it has been, you're seeing you can you can go on social media and and see these huge pieces of equipment that get drugged through what was a wetland when the prairie was in better shape than it's in. But it's we're gonna we're on like a six, seven, eight-year drought, and a lot of that has been shaved down to almost nothing, to where it's it's basically agground now. Wetland is no longer there. And uh we can't count on Canada to to pick up you know the ball and run with it for us. We expect especially in the current condition the relationships are between the two countries. So it gets back to what we talk about all the time as duck hunters is controlling the controllables, and uh an extra duck stamp goes a lot what a long way towards a controllable to keep uh uh what we have in in in in action and not converted to something that doesn't benefit a duck in the spring and the summer. Because duck, you you mentioned it earlier, duck production is is the number one thing. It is by far and away the number one thing is to what we could expect to get out of a duck season. Uh we gotta have the production first, and everything else kind of comes way after that. So yeah, uh control of control is to is to maintain these these uh habitats that they have to have. And um if we if we are not able to stand up and fight for it, and we all know that takes that takes funding. Uh if we're not able to stand up and fight for it, you can expect it to keep shrinking and shrieking. And when it when it shrinks, the duck population is going to shrink. And I don't think any of us want to see it go much below where it is right now.
SPEAKER_01No, no, definitely not. And I think you know, that's exactly what pushed this campaign from a you know a concept a year ago into reality today was just the the threat of changing you know the drain tile setbacks that maybe that was kind of the last straw, or maybe it was the awakening, you know, for a lot of us. But like I said, the response was really good from that, you know, to see people get involved and you know have a better understanding of where the ducks come from, uh, really kind of pushed this this campaign over the edge. So, you know, my hope, uh everyone listening that that I'm sitting here looking as our post keeps climbing right now and people are viewing it, you know. Like I said, I hope that when you start purchasing your license this year, when you get to that spot where you click your federal duck sample, like I said a minute ago, it's kind of cliche now, but I hope it rings through your head. Utah, get me two.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna keep saying it. You're gonna get tired of hearing me say it.
SPEAKER_00No, I've got I'm good with it. I'm good with it. But uh, but yeah, I mean, it it's never, it's truly never been uh probably more important ex unless you want to go all the way back to when the duck stamp was created, which was during the Dust Bowl. You know, the history of that. Um they had set aside the some money for duck habitat, but they didn't have a consistent way to fund it. So FDR came up with or you know, somebody in his administration, but anyway, his administration came up with the concept of doing a duck stamp, and you have to buy one, and that money goes towards this. So it's created this perpetual funding for waterfowl habitat and protecting wetlands uh in the United States. So that was in the midst of the dust bolt. We're not in the dust bowl. We're we're definitely in a drought and we're having some issues, uh, but it's not anything like it was in the 1930s. But that's how far the duck stamp goes back. But we've had some dips before, we've had some droughts before uh that have caused the the population to dip, but we're kind of in a we're kind of in another crossroads in all this, and this is just an easy opportunity. This is a layup for a modern-day duck hunter to get involved. Serious waterfowl management isn't about reacting day to day. It's about making better decisions every season. Create the X is a waterfowl land management app built for the real work in the field. It's not meant to replace your journal or notebook. It allows you to access your past management history in real time right in the field. Track water movement, log field work, and GPS overlays, mark blinds, drop land damage pins, and record equipment maintenance documented by location and date so nothing gets lost over time. Instead of flipping through pages, you can reference past seasons directly on the map while you're standing there, giving you clear management history to guide future decisions. From your first field to the farthest fence line, manage it smarter with Create the X. Learn more at Creathex.com, available now in the App Store and Google Play.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a I mean it's simple, right? I mean, and I think you're right. I think short of the initial the initial uh in not an invention, but uh short of that period of time on the Dust Bowl, this may be the the most important period for us to get involved and take a stand and try to do something positive. So let's you know, let's hope this is it.
SPEAKER_00Yep. This is it. It's and and make it a routine, make it an every year deal. If you can afford it, and and I would think 25 bucks, most guys that are chasing ducks could can probably swing that, but um buy that bonus stamp. But uh for this campaign, it's www.by to duckstamps.com. Uh, and you can see who all's rallied behind it. If you want to be part of the the campaign and would and like would like to get involved and and you know be a supporter, uh just reach out to us and we'll be we'll be glad to add there's no uh there's no discriminatory, uh no uh application system or anything like that. We just want people to to do it, do it as in buy themselves an extra stamp and just tell everybody you know, whether that's a customer, whether that's a friend, whether that's a family member, online, offline, doesn't matter. Buy two duck stamps. If you can buy three, buy three, if you can buy four, buy four, and so on. Uh, because this is the this is the time for us to rally uh the troops, so to speak, and and really put some funding behind all this. But uh Waterfowl Management Academy was built to turn passion into stewardship. With over 75 years of combined wetland management experience at the private, state, and federal level, our biologist team helps landowners build better habitat and hold more ducks. From the management community and course library to one-on-one coaching, they give you clear, practical tools to manage with confidence through every season. WMA is for landowners who believe their property is about more than just a place to pull the trigger. It's about building habitat that gives back to the ducks and strengthens the resource for everyone. If that sounds like you, visit Waterfowl Management Academy and become a member today. But yeah, uh that's it. That's the campaign. Um hopefully we're we're blowing up the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service um stamp sales system. They weren't expecting this probably in in late August, but maybe it's uh making them wonder what in the world's going on, and they'll uh they'll get behind it too, and maybe they'll they'll push the initiative to open it up for people to buy too, uh, because that's uh that's where our our money can be most effective. So appreciate you listening. Those that go out and buy you an extra stamp, tip of the cap to you, and we'll catch you next time.
