Tate and Sydnee Dupon from Carr have both won awards for their submissions into the 2013 Colorado Junior Duck Stamp Contest. Fifteen-year-old Tate won third place in his age category for his submission and Sydnee, 17, was awarded an honorable mention for her submission.
The Colorado Junior Duck Stamp Contest is part of a national annual art competition, the winner of which will have their entry made into a conservation stamp. Entries from Colorado were judged by a panel of waterfowl enthusiasts, biologists and professional wildlife artists. Since 2000, more than 320,000 students have submitted art to this contest.
Colorado’s Best in Show winner was Nadezhda Lyapunova, a 17-year-old student from Erie. Her entry “Teals on Sunrise Pond” was entered into the ‘National Junior Duck Stamp Competition’ in Washington, D.C., which was won by 6-year-old Madison Grimm of Burbank, S.D.
The local award ceremony is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. May 11 at The Arvada Center for The Performing Arts. U.S. Fish and Wildlife deputy assistant regional director Paul Santavy will be the keynote speaker and will help honor the winners. The public is invited.
Profits from the sales of the winning stamps are re-invested in the Junior Duck Stamp Program to further support conservation education. As of 2012, more than $1.25 million dollars of Junior Duck Stamp proceeds have been provided to children across the country.
For more information about the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program, please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at www.fws.gov.