U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Announces 2007 Junior Duck Stamp Student Art Competition Winners

(Atlanta, GA) ? A 13-year-old artist from Suwannee, Georgia, Nahyun Chung, has been announced as the winner of the 2007 statewide Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest held April 10, in Atlanta, Georgia. Five judges unanimously selected Chung's watercolor rendition of a swimming mallard duck out of 678 entries as the Best of Show.

Chung will receive a $250 scholarship from Georgia Power Corporation, $100 scholarship from Bass Pro Shops, and $50 worth of art supplies and waterfowl field guides. As Georgia's Best of Show, Chung's artwork has also been sent for the federal competition scheduled at the National Zoo, Washington, D.C. on April 26. Images from all states and territories can be seen on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps.

This year, Junior Duck Stamp entries were submitted from 60 public and private schools, home schools, art studios, and after-school programs throughout the state. Chung's winning entry was submitted through her teacher, Won Choi, of Degas Fine Arts Studio in Norcross, Georgia. Artwork from seven other students from this art studio also placed in the statewide judging competition.

Each participating young artist must research and depict on paper a duck, goose or other waterfowl species native to north America. For a complete list of contest winners, please contact Resee Collins in the Division of Migratory Birds, (404) 679-7051 or Resee_Collins@fws.gov.

A panel of distinguished judges selected for their expertise in artistic design, wildlife art, and waterfowl biology determined the twenty-five winners of the Fifteenth Anniversary Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest in each of four different age groups: Kindergarten to third grade, fourth to sixth grade, seventh to ninth grade and tenth to twelfth grade, as well as the state's Best of Show. This year's judges featured: Cindy Dohner, deputy regional director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Frank Bowers, renowned waterfowl biologist and retired Chief, Migratory Birds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Jim Candler, biologist and Environmental Affairs Supervisor of Georgia Power Company, long-time sponsors of the Georgia Junior Duck program; Steve Hein, professional wildlife artist, former winner of the state Duck Stamp competition and Director of the Center for Wildlife Education at Georgia Southern University; and Deidre Wenokur, avid birdwatcher, naturalist and Director at CNN.

Prizes and ribbons are also being given for the best student conservation message that expresses the spirit of what they learned while researching and planning for their Duck Stamp Contest artwork entry. This years? conservation message winner is 17 year-old Matthew Ziglar, a home school student from Macon, Georgia, who submitted: "The conservation of wildlife is best expressed by actions rather than words?.

Junior Duck Stamps are sold by the U.S. Postal Service and Amplex Corporation consignees for $5 per stamp. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps support conservation education, and provide awards and scholarships for students, teachers, and schools that participate in the program.

The Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest is open to all youth in grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. All participants receive a certificate of appreciation. This is the fifteenth year of the student art competition, which is modeled after the Federal Duck Stamp Program, celebrating its 75th anniversary this fall at http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ .

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 96-million- acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices, and 81 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 and Native American Tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.