Time is running out to paint a pintail or color a canvasback. Entries for this year’s Junior Duck Stamp Contest must be postmarked by March 15.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge, in Limestone, is sponsoring the eighteenth annual Maine competition of the Junior Duck Stamp contest. The judging of the contest is being hosted by the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Thursday, March 22 from 9 a.m. until noon in the Allagash room.
“This is an opportunity for students in grades K-12 to be recognized for their talents,” contest officials said. The contest challenges students to create designs featuring ducks, geese, or swans in their natural habitats. Designs are judged in four age categories, with awards for first, second, and third places and honorable mentions. The Best of Show from the Maine competition will be automatically entered in the National Junior Duck Stamp Competition. Entries must be postmarked by March 15, 2011.
The first-place national winning design is used to create the Federal Junior Duck Stamp. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps (which cost $5 each) support conservation education by providing awards and scholarships for students, teachers, and schools. This year the first-place National Winner will receive a $5,000 cash award and a free trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the Federal Duck Stamp First Day of Sale ceremony in late June/early July along with one parent and the winner’s teacher.
Modeled after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual federal suck stamp competition, the Junior Duck Stamp contest is part of a unique educational curriculum that teaches students about waterfowl, the importance of wetlands, and conservation in general. Proceeds from the sale of federal duck stamps protect wetlands through land acquisition by the National Wildlife Refuge System.
For more information on the contest and the display, call Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge at 207/328-4634 or visit http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/.
