Federal Duck Stamp Helps Wildlife Conservation
After two days of competitors, Adam Grimm of Wallace, South Dakota, emerged because the winner of the 2024 Federal Duck Stamp Artwork Contest with an acrylic portray of a pair of spectacled eiders. The announcement was made at an in-person occasion and by way of livestream on the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Grimm’s art work will likely be made into the 2025-2026 Federal Migratory Chook Searching and Conservation Stamp, or Duck Stamp, which can go on sale in late June 2025. That is Grimm’s third time profitable the Federal Duck Stamp Artwork Contest. The Service produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which raises roughly $40 million in gross sales annually. These funds help essential conservation to preserve wetland habitats within the Nationwide Wildlife Refuge System for the good thing about wildlife and the enjoyment of individuals.
“The Duck Stamp Contest is about having fun with and deciding on the artwork and recognizing the abilities of the artists whereas celebrating this distinctive conservation program and its legacy of defending hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat,” stated Service Director Martha Williams. “I hope everybody goes out and buys a Duck Stamp like I do to be part of this legacy that’s greater than 90 years within the making.”
Rebekah Knight of Deepwater, Missouri, positioned second with an oil portray of a drake hooded merganser and Abraham Hunter of Dandridge, Tennessee, took third place with an oil portray of a pair of hooded mergansers.
Because it was first established in 1934, the Federal Duck Stamp has been offered to hunters, birdwatchers, outside fans and collectors, elevating greater than $1.3 billion to preserve over 6 million acres of habitat for birds and different wildlife and supply numerous alternatives for wildlife-oriented recreation on our public lands.
Waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to buy and carry the present Federal Duck Stamp. Many non-hunters, together with birdwatchers, conservationists, stamp collectors and others additionally buy the stamp in help of habitat conservation. Moreover, a present Federal Duck Stamp can be utilized totally free admission to any nationwide wildlife refuge that fees an entry payment.
Simply this previous week, the Migratory Chook Conservation Fee, chaired by Secretary of the Inside Deb Haaland, accepted the allocation of greater than $58 million by means of grants allotted from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and funds from the Migratory Chook Conservation Fund. The fund is made up partly of Duck Stamp {dollars} to help the acquisition of lands from keen sellers for the Refuge System. The brand new areas present further entry to the general public to a few of the most spectacular locations accessible for looking, fishing, birdwatching, climbing and different outside actions.
The Bruce Museum in Connecticut was chosen as the positioning of this yr’s contest in tandem with their present artwork exhibition, “Conservation Via the Arts: Celebrating the Federal Duck Stamp,” which is the primary public viewing of the biggest assortment of authentic art work depicted on Federal Migratory Chook Searching and Conservation Stamps.
Of 239 entries judged on this yr’s competitors, 15 entries made it to the ultimate spherical of judging. Eligible species for this yr’s Federal Duck Stamp Contest had been brant, northern shoveler, larger scaup, spectacled eider and hooded merganser. View the on-line gallery of the 2024 Federal Duck Stamp Artwork Contest entries.
The judges for this yr’s Federal Duck Stamp Contest had been: Jennifer Scully, artist and conservation accomplice Maryland Nationwide Capital Parks and Planning Fee; Tom Melius, retired Service Migratory Chook Program assistant director; John Gregory Mensik, retired biologist, land supervisor, and co-author of Waterfowl of the World; Norma Opgrand, former Service Duck Stamp Workplace chief; Anne von Stuelpnagel, director of exhibitions, Bruce Museum; and Margie Crisp, artist and writer of Duck Stroll: A Birder’s Unbelievable Path to Searching as Conservation, served because the alternate decide.
You may contribute to conservation and America’s nice open air custom by shopping for Federal Duck Stamps at many nationwide wildlife refuges, sporting items shops, and different retailers, by means of the U.S. Postal Service, or on-line at https://www.fws.gov/service/buy-duck-stamp-or-e-stamp.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to preserve, defend and improve fish, wildlife, crops and their habitats for the persevering with advantage of the American folks. For extra info, go to www.fws.gov, or join with us by means of any of those social media channels: Fb, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.
