New federal duck stamp rule is permanent for every year

By Michael Baadke

The 2020 rule revision requiring the depiction of a hunting element on United States federal duck stamps is permanent, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and will be a requirement for participating stamp artists every year.

The rule change was reported in the May 11 Linn’s Stamp News based on an April 22 posting to the Fish and Wildlife Service website that was later removed.

That brief posting described the regulation as being implemented every five years in the future, affecting all entries into the contest during any year that ends with “5” or “0.”

However the published public ruling states: “Beginning in 2020, the Contest will include a permanent theme of ‘celebrating our waterfowl hunting heritage,’ and it will be mandatory that each entry include an appropriate waterfowl hunting scene and/or accessory.”

Vanessa Kauffman of the Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed to Linn’s Stamp News that the rule proposal was for every year and was finalized as such.

A second published ruling requires “that all contest judges must have an understanding and appreciation of America’s waterfowl hunting heritage and be able to recognize objects related to waterfowl hunting.”

Links to the new regulations can be found on the Fish and Wildlife Service website.

The Fish and Wildlife Service sponsors an annual art contest to select the artwork for the next year’s federal duck stamp.

“Participants must still adhere to existing contest regulations that require a live portrayal of one or more of the five eligible waterfowl species for that year (brant, gadwall, cinnamon teal, lesser scaup and red-breasted merganser for 2020) as the dominant foreground feature,” according to a news release from the service. “Contestants will be judged on the quality of their art and how well they illustrate the theme.”

The 2020 Federal Duck Stamp Contest, which will determine the artwork that will appear on the stamp issued in 2021, is scheduled to take place Sept. 25-26 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

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