Robert Steiner, an artist from San Francisco, Calif., is the winner of the 2012 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. The announcement was made recently by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Rowan Gould. This annual art contest is the only juried art competition sponsored by the federal government.
Steiner’s acrylic painting of a common goldeneye will be made into the 2013-2014 Federal Duck Stamp, which will go on sale in late June 2013. This is Steiner’s second Federal Duck Stamp Contest win. His art previously appeared on the 1998-1999 Federal Duck Stamp.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which sells for $15 and raises about $25 million each year to provide funds to conserve and protect habitats in the National Wildlife Refuge system. Waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to purchase and carry the current Migratory Bird Conservation and Hunting Stamp – commonly known as the Duck Stamp.
Ninety-eight percent of the proceeds from sale of the Federal Duck Stamp go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which supports the purchase of migratory bird habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since 1934, Federal Duck Stamp sales have raised more than $850 million, helping the USFWS purchase or lease 6 million acres of wildlife habitat on hundreds of Refuges in nearly every state. There are 560 National Wildlife Refuges spread across the 50 states and U.S. territories.
You may also buy Federal Duck Stamps at many national wildlife refuges, the U.S. Postal Service, or online at http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/stamps.htm.
