[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4167-4168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-885]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


2006 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Federal Duck 
Stamp) Contest

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the dates and 
location of the 2006 Federal Duck Stamp contest, and the species 
eligible to be subjects for this year's designs. The 2006 contest will 
be the second

[[Page 4168]]

contest to take place outside of Washington, DC. We invite the public 
to enter and to attend.

DATES: 
    1. The official date to begin submission of entries to the 2006 
contest is June 1, 2006. All entries must be postmarked no later than 
midnight, Monday, August 15, 2006.
    2. The public may view the 2006 Federal Duck Stamp entries at the 
Memphis location (see ADDRESSES) beginning on Monday, September 25, 
2006 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and through all the days of judging. Judging 
will be held on Friday, October 6, 2006, beginning at 6 p.m., and on 
Saturday, October 7, 2006, beginning at 9 a.m., at the Memphis 
location.

ADDRESSES: Requests for complete copies of the contest rules, 
reproduction rights agreement, and display and participation agreement 
may be requested by calling 1-703-358-2000, or requests may be 
addressed to: Federal Duck Stamp Contest, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Department of the Interior, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mail 
Stop MBSP-4070, Arlington, VA 22203-1622. You may also download the 
information from the Federal Duck Stamp Web site at http://duckstamps.fws.gov.
    The contest will be held at the Memphis College of Art in Overton 
Park, 1930 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ryan W. Booth, Federal Duck Stamp 
Office, by phone at (703) 358-2004, or by e-mail to [email protected], or by fax at (703) 358-2009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 16, 1934, Congress passed and President Franklin Roosevelt 
signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (16 U.S.C. 718-718j, 48 
Stat. 452). Popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act, it required all 
waterfowl hunters 16 years or older to buy a stamp annually. The 
revenue generated was originally earmarked for the Department of 
Agriculture, but 5 years later was transferred to the Department of the 
Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to buy or lease 
waterfowl sanctuaries. Regulations governing the contest appear at 50 
CFR part 91.
    In the years since, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has become one 
of the most popular and successful conservation programs ever 
initiated. Today, some 1.8 million stamps are sold each year, and as of 
2004, Federal Duck Stamps have generated more than $700 million for the 
preservation of more than 5.2 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the 
United States. Numerous other birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, and 
amphibians have similarly prospered because of habitat protection made 
possible by the program. An estimated one-third of the Nation's 
endangered and threatened species find food or shelter in wetland 
habitat. Moreover, the protected wetlands help dissipate storms, purify 
water supplies, store flood water, and nourish fish hatchlings 
important for sport and commercial fishermen.

The Contest

    The first Federal Duck Stamp was designed at President Franklin 
Roosevelt's request in 1934 by Jay N. ``Ding'' Darling, a nationally 
known political cartoonist for the Des Moines Register and a noted 
hunter and wildlife conservationist. In subsequent years, noted 
wildlife artists were asked to submit designs. The first contest was 
opened in 1949 to any U.S. artist who wished to enter, and 65 artists 
submitted a total of 88 design entries in what remains the only art 
competition of its kind sponsored by the U.S. Government. The Secretary 
of the Interior appoints a panel of noted art, waterfowl, and 
philatelic authorities to select each year's design. Winners receive no 
compensation for their work, except a pane of their stamps, but winners 
may sell prints of their designs, which are sought by hunters, 
conservationists, and art collectors.
    The 2006 contest will be the second contest to take place outside 
of Washington, DC. We plan to hold future duck stamp contests in 
various U.S. locations corresponding to flyways.
    Contest Fee: All entrants must submit a nonrefundable fee of 
$125.00 by cashier's check, certified check, or money order made 
payable to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Eligible species

    The following species are eligible for the 2006 contest: American 
widgeon, wood duck, gadwall, ring-necked duck, and cinnamon teal. 
Entries featuring a species other than the above listed species will be 
disqualified.

    Dated: January 20, 2006.
Thomas O. Melius,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. E6-885 Filed 1-24-06; 8:45 am]
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