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Wisconsin Youth Wins the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a pair of ring-necked ducks will be featured on the 2005-2006 Junior Duck Stamp. The design for the new stamp, painted by 17 year-old Kerissa Nelson of Grantsburg, WI, was chosen by a panel of judges on April 23 at the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest in Ocean City, Maryland.
The acrylic painting, entitled "Ringneck Rendezvous," which previously won the Wisconsin State Junior Duck Stamp Contest was judged the top painting among the Best-of-State entries from all 50 states. The 2005-2006 Federal Junior Duck Stamp, which the Fish and Wildlife Service makes available for $5 to stamp collectors and conservationists, will be released to the public on June 30, 2005. Proceeds from Junior Duck Stamp sales are used to support environmental education efforts and awards for contest winners.
Kerissa Nelson's art teacher is Brue Teigen. He teaches at Grantsburg High School.
"It is truly amazing to see the work of artists who are so talented at such a young age. But what is perhaps more inspiring is the fact that these kids and thousands more like them around the nation are learning important lessons about the need to conserve wetland habitat through their participation in the Junior Duck Stamp Program," said Acting Service Director Matt Hogan.
Melissa Chen of Gretna, Louisiana, took second place with an oil painting depicting a redhead called "Redhead on the Delta." The 14 year-old studies art at Greg's Gallery. Greg Chappell is her art teacher.
Third place went to Holly Cobb, of Sandy, Utah, for her rendition of a pair of cinnamon teals done in colored pencil. Holly's teacher is Doug Allen of Alta High School.
The National Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest is the culmination of a year long Junior Duck Stamp conservation curriculum used by educators across the nation in their classrooms. Each State hosted competitions from February until mid-April
where Junior Duck Stamp design entries were judged by a group of people active in the local wildlife art or conservation community.State "Best of Show" winning designs were then sent to Washington, D.C., where the top three entries were chosen by a panel of five judges. The Junior Duck Stamp Contest winner receives a free trip to Washington, D.C., along with the art teacher, a parent and the state coordinator the following June to be honored at the First Day of Sales Ceremony. The first-place winner also receives a $5,000 award. The second place winner receives $3,000 and the third-place winner receives $2,000.
Judges for this year's national Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest were:
·
Mark Anderson - Anderson, a self-taught wildlife artist from Sioux Falls, SD who began painting in 1980, bested 223 other entries to win the 2004 Federal Duck Stamp Contest. His winning image will grace the 2005-06 Federal Duck Stamp, to be released to the public along with the Junior Duck Stamp on June 30. Anderson has won numerous other state waterfowl stamp competitions, and his art is highly sought after by collectors.·
Loretta Beaumont - For the past 17 years, Loretta Beaumont has worked on conservation issues as a staff assistant for the Interior Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives. She has been employed as professional staff on the Committee through both Republican and Democratic control of the Congress. Beaumont oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service and Environmental Protection Agency appropriation accounts, as well as other conservation programs. She has worked tirelessly to improve the funding and delivery of conservation programs across the nation.·
Greg Butcher - A prominent ornithologist who is Director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society, Butcher works on a series of bird conservation initiatives and reports designed to restore the continent's bird populations. These initiatives include Audubon's WatchList of birds of conservation need, the organization's famous analysis of Christmas Bird Count data, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, Partners in Flight, and other policy issues related to migratory birds.·
Rich Smoker - Smoker, who served as a Judge for the 2004 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest, is a master waterfowl carver from Marion Station, Maryland. In competition, Rich has won over 400 ribbons, including 50 "Best in Show" and a third in the 2001 Ward World Championship Carving Competition with a Long Eared Owl. In 2001, he was inducted into the Carver's Hall of Fame at the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, MD and his art is now the subject of a special exhibition at the Ward Decoy Museum in Salisbury, MD.·
Kim Matalik - Matalik is an Operations Specialist in Retail Operations at the United States Postal Service. She works with programs and policies that affect the day-to-day operations of post offices nationwide. Kim has been with the Postal Service for 24 years and has served at the chairperson of the Federal Duck Stamp Task Force since November 2003.For more information and a complete list of images and contest results, please see the Duck Stamp Program's home page at
www.fws.gov/duckstampsThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our homepage at http://www.fws.gov
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