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2001 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program:  Conservation through the Arts
by: Joan Stevens of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  

 It’s that time of year when much attention is focused on waterfowl.  Duck hunters are excited in the midst of duck hunting season.  Birdwatchers are getting their binoculars, handbooks and spotting scopes ready; and Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge personnel are in preparation as the refuge fills with its annual duck and geese visitors by the thousands.  However, this time of year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has another emphasis:  the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art and Conservation Program.  

This program is on the outside a competition that recognizes Tennessee’s top student waterfowl artists from grades K through 12.  However it’s more than just an art contest, it is an integrated art and science curriculum developed to teach environmental science and habitat conservation.   A Junior Duck Stamp design is a “term paper” in which students use visual rather than verbal articulation to show what they have learned.  Participants select a species of North American waterfowl, do research on this species and its habitat, then depict the waterfowl in an artistic medium.   

Year 2001 Junior Duck Stamp 
Winner: 16 yr. old Bonnie Latham 
of Hastings, Minnesota

The Jr. Duck Stamp Program is modeled after the Federal Duck Stamp program which began in 1934 during a period of history when much of our adequate waterfowl habitat was being destroyed.  It was then that duck hunters were first required to purchase a “duck stamp” prior to hunting migratory waterfowl.  The monies collected from the sale of these stamps to hunters, stamp collectors and non-hunting conservationists goes through the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which is used exclusively to purchase wetlands that become part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.  

Currently in the United States each year, nearly half a million acres of wetlands are destroyed; mostly by agriculture but also by urban and industrial development, and the quality of much of the remaining habitat has decreased substantially. With proceeds of about $15 million annually being raised for waterfowl conservation through duck stamp sales purchasing more than 4.2 million acres of waterfowl habitat have been preserved  since it began. 

Each year hundreds of students in Tennessee send in their artwork from public, private, and home school settings to compete for top honors.  Five judges will select First, Second, Third and Honorable Mention from four age categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.  A Tennessee Best of Show will also be selected.  The Tennessee Best of Show winner will be sent to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national competition.  The national First Place entry will be used as the image on the Federal Junior Duck Stamp, and the winning artist will receive $2,500.  

All artwork must be a 9” x 12” horizontal image of North American ducks, geese or swans.  Loons and mute swans are not eligible.  Entries must be submitted with an official entry form, and postmarked by March 15^th, 2001.  Entries should be mailed to: Tennessee Junior Duck Stamp Coordinator, Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, 3006 Dinkins Lane, Paris, TN 38242.  Contest brochures and entry forms as well as a free educators curriculum guide and video are available by calling (901) 642-2091 or sending an e-mail message to Joan_Stevens@fws.gov.  

Here's the official site with more information on the
Junior Duck Stamp Contest
http://duckstamps.fws.gov/jrindex.html