Minnesota is a big state for ducks, duck hunters, and Federal Duck Stamp artists. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Federal Duck Stamp Program has made a major impact in the State, and Minnesotans, in turn, have been leading contributors to the program.
This years Federal Duck Stamp Hometown ceremony, honoring Plymouth, Minn. artist Robert Hautman, will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center Seasons exhibit hall on Saturday, July 19. Doors open at 9:30. The official ceremony begins at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
This years event is being held in association with the Minnesota Stamp Expo, A Salute to Wildlife Stamps, which is at the Convention Center July 18-20.
The Minnesota Waterfowl Association, the Lake Minnetonka Stamp Club, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are hosting this celebration of waterfowl, wetland conservation, wildlife art, and the more than 60-year tradition of the Federal Duck Stamp.
Hautmans winning image of a single Canada goose in a wetland habitat is featured on the 1997-1998 Federal Duck Stamp which was unveil June 21 in McLean, Virginia. Canada Goose Station, the name of the temporary postal unit to be set up at the Minneapolis Convention Center, will be selling the new stamp.
The Canada goose is the most identifiable goose species to many Americans because of its widespread distribution, honking call, and its unmistakable appearance: a large gray bird with a black neck and head and distinctive white cheek patches.
There have been nearly 60 Federal Duck Stamp artists since the program began in 1934. Hautman is the fourteenth to have been born and raised in Minnesota, or resided in the State at one time. Three of these artists have won the contest more than once, including Hautmans brother Jim who won both in 1989 and in 1994. Another Hautman brother, Joe, won the contest in 1991. In fact, Robert Hautman placed second in the 1994 contest and has been a finalist in five Federal Duck Stamp contests before taking first place this year.
In 1990, four of the top five artists were from Minnesota; and in 1993 and 1994, four of the top 10 were. In 1994, all three top winners were from Minnesota, In 1996, two of the top 20 were from Minnesota and this again year four of the top 10 winners are from Minnesota.
Federal duck-stamp winners, Minnesota-born or who have resided in the state, include: Francis Lee Jaques, 1940-41; Roger Preuss, 1949-50; Harvey Sandstrom, 1954-55; Les Kouba, 1958-59 and 1967-68; Ed Morris, 1962-63; Arthur Cook, 1972-73David Maass, 1974-75 and 1982-83; Richard Plasschaert, 1980-81; Phil Scholer, 1983-84; Dan Smith, 1988-89; Jim Hautman, 1990-91 and 1995-96; Joe Hautman, 1992-93Bruce Miller, 1993-94; and Bob Hautman, 1997-98.
In recognition of the accomplishments of Minnesota artists to this program and the impact the program has had on the State, Governor Arne Carlson has proclaimed July 19, 1997 Robert Hautmans Federal Duck Stamp Day in Minnesota. This proclamation will be presented to Hautman at this event by Environmental Policy Director Lee Paddock of the States Attorney Generals Office.
The Federal Duck Stamp (also called the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp) is a required annual purchase of all waterfowl hunters age 16 and older, while stamp collectors and other conservationists also buy the stamps. They are sold at most U.S. Post Offices, national wildlife refuges, sporting goods stores, and K-Mart and Wal-Mart stores.
Money from the sale of the $15 dollar stamp is used to acquire lands for the National Wildlife Refuge System, the worlds most outstanding collection of lands and waters dedicated to wildlife. In fact, 98 cents of every Duck Stamp dollar is used for refuge system land acquisition. To date, more than $500 million raised from Duck Stamp sales have been used to acquire nearly 4.7 million acres of wildlife habitat for the refuge system nationwide.
Minnesota is part of the Prairie Pothole Region of the continent which supports about 50 percent of the nations entire breeding duck population. The Service manages close to 518,000 acres of habitat in Minnesota, about 85 percent of which has been acquired with Duck Stamp dollars.
Four of Minnesotas 11 national wildlife refuges, encompassing 75,000 acres of the total 208,000 acres of refuge lands in the state have been acquired wholly or partially using Duck Stamp revenues. These are: Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, and Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge.
All of the national wildlife refuges in Minnesota are excellent waterfowl breeding or migration habitat. The other refuges in the State include Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge, Rydell National Wildlife Refuge, Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Additionally, Minnesota has 805 waterfowl production areas in 43 counties, comprising more than 230,000 acres of vital breeding, staging and migration duck habitat which have been acquired entirely with Duck Stamp dollars. Waterfowl production areas are small, natural wetlands with associated uplands located mainly in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Upper Midwest. The Service purchases pothole areas, considered to be vital for breeding ducks, from willing sellers. Over the years, Duck Stamp sales have also been used to protect easements which have permanently protected wetlands on 83,400 acres of land in Minnesota.
Minnesotans purchase an average of about 10 percent of all Federal Duck Stamps sold each year. Out of the total of 1,527,341 Federal Duck Stamps sold in 1995, Minnesotans bought 132,546, or about 9 percent. Preliminary sales figures for 1996 indicate that 1,581,759 Duck Stamps were sold nationwide and Minnesotans purchased 142,353, or, again, about 9 percent.
In 1993 all past Federal Duck Stamp artists from Minnesota joined with local conservation groups to launch an innovative fundraising effort to boost U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetlands restoration efforts in the State. Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Minnesota Waterfowl Association, the Hadley Companies (an art firm), and the 10 Federal Duck Stamp artists sponsored a silent auction. Each artist donated a framed print of their artwork for sale to raise funds for the Services Partners for Wildlife Program, a cooperative effort with private landowners who wish to restore important fish and wildlife habitat.
The money raised from the auction, along with contributions from the above noted organizations, was matched by the Services Partners for Wildlife Program and used for habitat restoration on a site in Hennepin County, Minnesota. On property owned by the Vinland Nature Center, 12 wetland basins, amounting to 9 acres, were restored and more than 100 acres of highly erodible cropland were reestablished to tallgrass prairie. Other partners in the project were the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, and the Consolidated Farm Services Agency.
In 1995, a similar fundraising effort, sponsored by artist Jim Hautman was conducted at the First Day of Sale Event held that year at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. With funds raised at the silent auction and matching funds through the Services Partners for Wildlife Program, two wetlands and 15 acres of native prairie were restored in Hennepin County on property owned by Edina, Minnesota residents Tim and Susan Clark. The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge coordinated this cooperative alliance.
This project demonstrated the importance of wetlands and native grasslands for fish and wildlife populations and had such added benefits as improved local water quality, reduced flooding in the Mississippi River Basin, via Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Creek, as well as enhanced natural beauty for area residents. Partners in this project included Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Izaak Walton League of America, carver Marv Meyer, Minnesota Waterfowl Association, Oshmans Super Sports U.S.A., Pheasants Forever, Prairie Restorations, Safari Club International, Sam Houston Duck Company, Wild Wings, Wildlife Forever as well as Federal Duck Stamp artists Jim Hautman, Joe Hautman, Robert Hautman, Richard Plasschaert, Arthur Cook, and Harvey Sandstrom.
This year, Robert Hautman will continue the Minnesota Federal Duck Stamp artists wetlands restoration tradition. The Minnesota Waterfowl Association is conducting a silent auction as part of this years July 19 event, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., to raise funds for the Robert Hautman Habitat Restoration Project. Those funds will, as in the past, be matched by the Service and dedicated to restoring wetlands and associated native grasslands on a recently acquired waterfowl production area in southeastern Kandiyohi County.
For nearly 30 years after its inception, the Federal Duck Program provided the sole source of funding for national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge land acquisition. Today, Duck Stamps provide about half of this revenue. Other funding sources include Congressional appropriations, import duties collected on arms and ammunition, and receipts from the sale of refuge admission permits.
At the July 19 Hometown event, Canada Goose Station will offer a special pictorial cancellation on a souvenir card sold by the Service, with first class postage, following the ceremony. The Service also will sell products featuring various Duck Stamp designs, including tote bags, t-shirts, magnets, posters, caps, mugs, cotton throws and other items. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of licensed products also is used for acquiring waterfowl habitat. Through the Duck Stamp Licensing Program, private companies form agreements with the Federal Stamp Program allowing them to feature Duck Stamp art on their products.
Administering the Federal Duck Stamp Program to generate funds for waterfowl habitat acquisition is just one way the Service ensures viable duck populations survive and continue to thrive. The Service also is a signatory to the North American Waterfowl Management Plan along with Canada and Mexico, a program designed to increase waterfowl and other migratory bird populations throughout the North American continent through restoration and protection of wetlands habitat. In addition, the Service sets Federal frameworks for regulating waterfowl hunting, based on results of large-scale annual waterfowl population counts and hunter harvest surveys. This year, overall breeding duck populations are up 13 percent from the 1996 survey and 31 percent above the long term average from 1955 to 1996.
Federal Duck Stamps have become increasingly popular among stamp collectors, wildlife artists, and conservationists. The Smithsonian Institutions National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., recently opened a permanent exhibit honoring the Federal Duck Stamp. Duck Stamp purchases by non-hunters have risen from 3 percent to 10 percent of all Duck Stamp sales in recent years.
The Federal Duck Stamp has been issued annually since 1934 when J.N. Ding Darling, chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services predecessor agency, the Bureau of Biological Survey, designed the first stamp. Artwork for Duck Stamps was commissioned until 1949 when the Service began sponsoring annual contests to select the design.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
