The Interior Department plans to purchase more than 5,000 acres of land in three states to increase habitat for waterfowl.
The land — 5,254 acres near wildlife refuges in Texas, Virginia and Illinois — will cost $22.6 million, drawn from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. The dollars were approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum chairs.
The announcement includes more than 3,500 acres near Texas’ Moody National Wildlife Refuge, over 1,600 acres near Virginia’s Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge and 76 acres near Illinois’ Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, according to the announcement.
The funding for the new lands came mostly from the sale of Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, or Duck Stamps, along with gun-related import duties, Interior said.
