Jay Norwood

Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling (1876 - 1962) became the “Father of the Federal ‘Duck Stamp’” on March 16, 1934, when Congress passed and President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. The law set up a permanent source of money to buy and preserve land for waterfowl, using the idea of an annual Federal revenue stamp conceived by Darling that would be bought by all hunters of ducks, geese, and swans. Darling, a political cartoonist for the Des Moines Register, was known for his biting satires depicting the destruction of the nation’s waterfowl habitat in the midst of the havoc wrought by the “dust bowl” of the Great Depression. Conservationist and stamp collector Roosevelt was captivated by Darling’s talents – if not by his political views. He appointed Darling chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey, predecessor to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he served from 1934-35, working closely with conservation luminaries like Ira Gabrielson of the Biological Survey and Aldo Leopold of the U.S. Forest Service to reenergize the nation’s conservation efforts during the New Deal. Darling’s “Duck Stamp” since has raised more than $600 million for land acquisition and helped put the National Wildlife Refuge System on sounder financial footing during the latter half of the 20th Century.