Federal Duck Stamp Supports Wildlife Conservation
After two days of competition, Adam Grimm of Wallace, South Dakota, emerged as the winner of the 2024 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest with an acrylic painting of a pair of spectacled eiders. The announcement was made at an in-person event and via livestream at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Grimm’s artwork will be made into the 2025-2026 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or Duck Stamp, which will go on sale in late June 2025. This is Grimm’s third time winning the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. The Service produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which raises approximately $40 million in sales each year. These funds support critical conservation to conserve wetland habitats in the National Wildlife Refuge System for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of people.
“The Duck Stamp Contest is about enjoying and selecting the art and recognizing the talents of the artists while celebrating this unique conservation program and its legacy of protecting millions of acres of habitat,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “I hope everyone goes out and buys a Duck Stamp like I do to be a part of this legacy that is more than 90 years in the making.”
Rebekah Knight of Deepwater, Missouri, placed second with an oil painting of a drake hooded merganser and Abraham Hunter of Dandridge, Tennessee, took third place with an oil painting of a pair of hooded mergansers.
Since it was first established in 1934, the Federal Duck Stamp has been sold to hunters, birdwatchers, outdoor enthusiasts and collectors, raising more than $1.3 billion to conserve over 6 million acres of habitat for birds and other wildlife and provide countless opportunities for wildlife-oriented recreation on our public lands.
Waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to purchase and carry the current Federal Duck Stamp. Many non-hunters, including birdwatchers, conservationists, stamp collectors and others also purchase the stamp in support of habitat conservation. Additionally, a current Federal Duck Stamp can be used for free admission to any national wildlife refuge that charges an entry fee.
Just this past week, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, chaired by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, approved the allocation of more than $58 million through grants allocated from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and funds from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. The fund is made up partly of Duck Stamp dollars to support the acquisition of lands from willing sellers for the Refuge System. The new areas provide additional access to the public to some of the most spectacular places available for hunting, fishing, birdwatching, hiking and other outdoor activities.
The Bruce Museum in Connecticut was chosen as the site of this year’s contest in tandem with their current art exhibition, “Conservation Through the Arts: Celebrating the Federal Duck Stamp,” which is the first public viewing of the largest collection of original artwork depicted on Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps.
Of 239 entries judged in this year’s competition, 15 entries made it to the final round of judging. Eligible species for this year’s Federal Duck Stamp Contest were brant, northern shoveler, greater scaup, spectacled eider and hooded merganser. View the online gallery of the 2024 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest entries.
The judges for this year’s Federal Duck Stamp Contest were: Jennifer Scully, artist and conservation partner Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission; Tom Melius, retired Service Migratory Bird Program assistant director; John Gregory Mensik, retired biologist, land manager, and co-author of Waterfowl of the World; Norma Opgrand, former Service Duck Stamp Office chief; Anne von Stuelpnagel, director of exhibitions, Bruce Museum; and Margie Crisp, artist and author of Duck Walk: A Birder’s Improbable Path to Hunting as Conservation, served as the alternate judge.
You can contribute to conservation and America’s great outdoors tradition by buying Federal Duck Stamps at many national wildlife refuges, sporting goods stores, and other retailers, through the U.S. Postal Service, or online at https://www.fws.gov/service/buy-duck-stamp-or-e-stamp.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.
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