When the Minnesota artist is honored Saturday July 19, at 10 a.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center, his image of a leg-banded Canada goose will begin supporting wetland conservation efforts throughout the United States.
Hautmans painting of a lone Canada goose, standing on a mat of cattails near the edge of a mirror smooth wetland, is the design for the 1997-1998 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, more commonly known as the Federal Duck Stamp.
The public is invited free of charge to the ceremony and event honoring Hautman and focusing on habitat for waterfowl and wildlife. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the event will continue until 2 p.m. The celebration is cooperatively sponsored by the Minnesota Waterfowl Association (MWA), Lake Minnetonka Stamp Club, U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
During this event, the MWA will conduct a silent auction from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Funds raised at the auction will be dedicated to the Bob Hautman Habitat Restoration Project and matched by the Service to restore 10 wetlands and associated native grasslands on the Lake Lillian Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) in southeastern Kandiyohi County.
The Lake Lillian WPA was acquired earlier this summer by the Service with Federal Duck Stamp dollars. The WPA, 310 acres in size, features 45 acres of restorable wetlands and 125 acres of original wetlands, 55 acres of restorable grasslands, 75 acres of native grasslands and 10 acres of woodlot. The property, purchased by the Service from three willing landowners, is near the Big Kandiyohi WPA (761 acres) and a 60-acre Reinvest in Minnesota tract.
The July 19 event showcases one of this countrys most successful conservation efforts, says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Bill Hartwig. "The Federal Duck Stamp program joins principle to practice by acquiring lands for the National Wildlife Refuge System, the worlds most outstanding collection of lands and waters dedicated to wildlife. We are very proud of this program and of the many thousands of Americans who have helped build the 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 system through their purchase of the Federal Duck Stamp. The dollars generated from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps are used to acquire critical waterfowl habitats that become part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Bob Hautman joins the cadre of Minnesota Federal Duck Stamp artists who have united to restore wetland habitat in the state. Hautman is a uniquely talented artist who paints from the heart and from much experience in the outdoors. He is dedicated to conserving the land he loves. I am thrilled that he is this years winning Federal Duck Stamp artist, Hartwig said.
Items contributed for the silent auction include three Federal Duck Stamp prints, matted and displayed inside one frame, from the Hautman Brothers. Bob Hautman is also contributing five signed, remarqued (one in color) and numbered programs, each with a Federal Duck Stamp. All are hand-canceled.
Minnesota Federal Duck Stamp artists contributing artwork include Roger Preuss, an untitled artists proof of black ducks; Phil Scholer, the 1983-84 Federal duck stamp print, an artists proof with medallion and two duck stamps; and Miller, the 1993-94 Federal duck stamp print with medallion and two stamps.
Other contributors are wildlife artist Ross Hier, carvers Pat Menelly, Marv Meyer and Steve Kufrin, Burger Brothers, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Hadley Companies, Holiday Company, Outdoor News, Pheasants Forever, Wildlife Forever, Wild Wings and the Minnesota Waterfowl Association.
To legally hunt waterfowl during the 1997-1998 season, hunters 16 years of age and older are required to purchase the stamp that carries Hautmans Canada goose image. Stamp collectors and birders also purchase the Federal Duck Stamp to support wetland conservation. Proceeds are used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to acquire lands, critical to waterfowl, other migratory birds and resident fish and wildlife species, for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Im very happy that I can play a role in national wetland conservation by serving as the Federal Duck Stamp representative during the next year, says Hautman. Since I use wetland habitats extensively to study and reference waterfowl, this provides an excellent opportunity for me to expand and promote wetland conservation.
Waterfowl production areas (open to public hunting and other wildlife-oriented activities) typically contain small, natural wetlands with associated native grasslands. They are mainly located in the Prairie Pothole Region of Minnesota and the Northern Plains states. During 1996 using Federal Duck Stamp revenues, the Service acquired new WPAs amounting to almost 6,000 acres in Minnesota. Today, 805 WPAs in 43 counties consist of almost 170,000 acres of important habitats acquired with duck-stamp proceeds.
Previously, Jim Hautman and Bruce Miller, former Minnesota Federal Duck Stamp artists, were honored with similar habitat projects. Jim Hautmans project in 1995 restored 12 wetlands amounting to nine acres and 17 acres of grasslands for six landowners in Carver and Hennepin counties. Millers project, in Hennepin County on land owned by the Vinland Center, restored 10 wetlands amounting to six acres and 100 acres of grasslands in 1994.
When Bob Hautman won the national competition last November, becoming the 14th Minnesotan to claim such a distinction, he joined two brothers, two-time victor Jim (1990-91 and 1995-96) and Joe (1992-93), as winners of the Federal contest--the only brothers to ever win this prestigious competition.
Minnesota-born Federal Duck Stamp artists, or who at one time 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, 1992-93; Bruce 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 the event by Environmental Policy Director Lee Paddock of the States Attorney Generals Office.
I didnt feel any pressure to win the Federal contest because two of my brothers were previous winners. However, I realized that the artists who preceded me as Minnesota winners had established an enduring tradition and that they are among the finest wildlife artists in North America, said Hautman. To be considered in their class is truly an honor.
To be able to influence waterfowl and wetland conservation by winning the Federal contest is a great honor. Not many artists have such an excellent opportunity to influence conservation through art and to help people realize just how important wetlands are in the scheme of our natural world.
The annual Federal Duck Stamp contest, open to American artists, is the only art contest conducted by the Federal government. No money or incentive award is offered to the winner, although a sheet of stamps bearing the winning design, autographed by the Secretary of the Interior, is presented to each winning artist.
Annual sales of approximately 1.5 million Federal Duck Stamps have raised in excess of $500 million that has been used to acquire more than 4.7 million acres of important fish and wildlife habitats on national wildlife refuges. Much of that acreage is in the Prairie Pothole Region, where the majority of this nations ducks are fledged.
In Minnesota, the Service manages more than 515,000 acres of habitat of which about 85 percent has been purchased with duck-stamp dollars. Four of the states 11 national wildlife refuges have been acquired using duck-stamp revenues and nearly 90,000 wetland acres on private lands are protected through permanent easements.
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
