WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved $10.8 million from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to conserve 7,200 acres for six national wildlife refuges through purchases of fee-title land and conservation easements.

These funds were raised largely through the sale of Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation stamps, commonly known as “duck stamps.”

The local selected project is Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in Errol, N.H. The purchase cost was $2,583,000 for 4,091 acres.

For every dollar spent on federal duck stamps, about 98 cents goes to acquire or lease habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The duck stamp program has been in place since 1934 and has raised more than $800 million to conserve more than 5.7 million acres of important waterfowl habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

FMI: www.fws.gov/birds/grants/north-american-wetland-conservation-act.php.