[mou] Duck stamp competition coming to Minnesota

[Jim Williams]

Forward by Jim Williams
Wayzata

===

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
Oct. 24, 2007
EA 07-94

Minnesota to Host 2008 Federal Duck Stamp Contest

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today the nation's oldest,
most prestigious wildlife art competition will take place in  
Minnesota next
year as the Service's Midwest Region hosts the 2008 Federal Duck  
Stamp Art
Contest. The 2008 Federal Duck Stamp Contest will take place during  
late September
or early October in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

The winning design chosen at the contest will be made into the 2009-2010
Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or Duck Stamp,  
the
cornerstone of one of the world's most successful conservation programs.

The winner of the 2007 Federal Duck Stamp Contest, Joseph Hautman, is
from Plymouth, Minn. His painting of a pair of northern pintail ducks  
was
chosen from among 247 images by a distinguished panel of five judges on
Oct. 13 in Sanibel, Fla.  Hautman's stamp will be the 75th Federal Duck
Stamp.

Minnesota wildlife artists have created 17 of 75 Federal Duck Stamps  
– more
than any other state. Minnesotans have purchased more than 9.1 million
duck stamps since 1934.

The $15 Federal Duck Stamp is a vital tool for wetland conservation,  
with
98 cents of every dollar generated going to purchase or lease wetland
habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since the stamp's
inception, more than $700 million has been raised to acquire more  
than 5.2
million acres of habitat and hundreds of refuges across the nation to
conserve America's fish and wildlife resources.



end