Viaduct? Vy Not? Ducks are a quack up. Ahem! Sorry.
The 2010 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest will be held on October 15 and 16, 2010 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, California. The event is the oldest and most prestigious wildlife art competition in the United States. The competition is open to the public and the winning design chosen at the competition will grace the 2011-2012 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or “Duck Stamp,” the cornerstone, says a Department of the Interior spokesperson, “of one of the world’s most successful conservation programs that supports the acquisition of millions of acres of wetland habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.”
Buying a $15 Federal Duck Stamp is possibly the single most effective purchase anyone can make to directly participate in wetland conservation throughout the United States. All waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to purchase and carry a current Federal Duck Stamp.However, the stamp is not only for hunters. Conservationists, recreational birders, stamp collectors and others also buy the stamp to support wetland habitat conservation for a wide diversity of animals and plants. Ninety-eight percent of the proceeds from Duck Stamp sales go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which supports the purchase of wetlands for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System.Since 1934, sales of Federal Duck Stamps have helped to purchase nearly 6 million acres of wildlife habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Twenty refuges in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Southwest Region – which encompasses California, Nevada and Oregon’s Klamath Basin — have directly benefitted from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps.
Now, isn’t that ducky?!
