See the artwork that will advance to the national competition and could end up on a nationally-circulated postage stamp.

The winners of the 2018 Wyoming Junior Duck Stamp Program were recently announced from the 546 total art entries that were received from around the state, from students in kindergarten up to 12th grade.

Students can also include a “conservation message” with their art, which summarizes what they learned through the program.

Emma Waite, age 17, of Powell, WY submitted this year’s winning conservation message: “Conservation is a way we can give back to the environment and preserve it for future generations.”

Wyoming’s 2018 Best of Show artwork, pictured below, is an oil paint rendition of a ruddy duck drake, titled “Ruddy Duck” by Kateri Bell, age 18, of Cody, WY.

Kateri Bell’s oil painting of the ruddy duck and Emma Waite’s conservation message will both advance to represent Wyoming at the 2018 National Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest which will be held Friday, April 20th, 2018 in Bismarck, ND from 10am to 12pm MDT.

A panel of judges will choose a Best of Show at the national level which will be printed on the 2017-2018 National Junior Duck Stamp. The new Junior Duck Stamp will be released in June of 2018and will be available for $5 at www.duckstamp.com as well as from
some U.S. Postal Service locations, National Wildlife Refuges, and through the Amplex Corporation.

Proceeds from the sale of the stamps support conservation education and provide prizes, awards and scholarships for students participating in the Junior Duck Stamp Program.

Wyoming’s Junior Duck Stamp Program also awards a “Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award” to the youngest age group, K – 3rd grades, to an artist the judges feel exhibits exemplary artistic promise.

This year’s Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award went to Tessa Davis, age 9, of Kemmerer, WY for a watercolor depiction of two pintail drakes, which is pictured below.

This dynamic educational program uses both conservation and design principles to teach wetland habitat and waterfowl biology to students in kindergarten through high school.

The art contest provides an opportunity for students to artistically express their knowledge of the diversity and beauty of waterfowl and their habitat.

Educational guides for youth, educators, home school, and non-traditional education are available through the Junior Duck Stamp Program. Please visit this website or contact Katie Theule (307) 413-8157 or [email protected] for free copies.

A big thank you goes to Wyoming Ducks Unlimited, who helped provide prizes and support for Wyoming’s program. The teachers and parents who encourage their students to participate in the program – especially Lori Maples of Wilson, Kelly and Moran; Jim Gilman of Powell; Jake Parks of Kemmerer; Elizabeth Cogbern Birnie and Sarah McWhorter of Jackson; and Janie Bennington and Dennis Nate of Cokeville – deserve recognition for their continued involvement in the program.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge would also like to thank this year’s contest judges who donated their time and expertise, listed in order pictured below, from left to right: Dave Kimble with the USFWS, Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program; Joy Bannon of Wyoming Wildlife Federation; Mindi Crabb from the Jackson Hole Land Trust Green River Valley Program; Marty Carollo of Wyoming Ducks Unlimited; and Sheila Deinhardt with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The judges are each holding one of the top four entries for the state contest, and the Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award winner from the youngest age group, the artwork left to right is:

• Pintail drakes by Tessa Davis, age 9 of Kemmerer – winner of the Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award
• A northern shoveler drake “Misted Rose Mornings” by Julia Kay O’Neill, of Powell – 1st Runner Up for Best of Show
• A great white-fronted goose, “Sunny Morning” by Harriet Pimentil of Powell – 2nd Runner Up for BOS
• A ruddy duck drake, “Ruddy Duck” by Kateri Bell of Cody – Best of Show (BOS)
• A cinnamon teal drake, “Floating in the Blue” by Sophe Morrow of Powell – 3rd Runner Up for BOS

The contest was judged in four age groups, Group I included Kindergarten through 3rd grade; Group II – 4th grade through 6th grade; Group III – 7th grade through 9th grade; and Group IV – 10th grade through 12th grade.

Students submitted artwork featuring the following native North American species: whistling ducks, swans, geese, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, sea ducks, mergansers, stiff tails, or Hawaiian ducks. Artwork entries were judged on the basis of original design, anatomical accuracy, artistic composition and suitability for reproduction on a 1” by 1.5”
stamp.

Copies of the winning artwork will be exhibited around the state. The tour will start April 23rd at the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Southwestern Wyoming. Jackson, Powell, Green River, Gillette, Sheridan, Casper, and Cheyenne are some of the scheduled stops on the tour. A detailed schedule of the tour will be available soon online at www.fws.gov/refuge/seedskadee/wyjrduck

An online gallery of the top 100+ entries will also be available soon from www.fws.gov/refuge/seedskadee/wyjrduck.