Duck Stamp Drama in Washington DC

[Fishidiot]

There's a proposal to raise the fee for the Federal Duck Stamp from $15 to $25 dollars. This would be the first raise in the cost of this stamp in over two decades. If you're not familiar with the Federal Duck Stamp, this is a program that dates to the 1930s in which duck hunters purchase a stamp much like our state trout stamp (although in this case there is still the literal "stamp" with a color image). Funds go to the feds for conservation of wetlands. As far as I know, the FDS is the only art competition conducted by the feds and winning the annual contest can bring great prestige (and no small financial remuneration) to an artist. Anyway, the proposed increase in the cost got tangled in a complicated Senate committee, the details of which are arcane.....but the result is that partisan budget politics have put the price increase on hold, for now.
Whatever the case, I'm pleased to see some publicity in national media for the FDS and hopefully the result will be a greater appreciation by the non-hunting public for this legacy conservation program.

Duck Stamp Article

 

[franklin]

I purchase a Duck Stamp every year. I even tried to hunt ducks once.

Do you enter any artwork?

 

[Chaz]

Isn't the stamp for all migratory birds?

 

[Love2fish]

yes its just refered to as "The Duck Stamp"

 

[Chaz]

Then it's incorrect to say it benefits ducks, it benefits all migratory birds.
Good question, how about it Dave?

 

[Fishidiot]

franklin wrote:
Do you enter any artwork?

No, I've never competed in the FDS.
Some years ago, I did send a couple entries into state duck stamp competitions and never placed. The FDS competition if far harder than the state duck stamp competitions. There are some world class wildlife artists who are nationally known and excellent at their craft....who have competed unsuccessfully in this competition for their entire careers.
I think, about twenty years ago, the feds also added a pretty steep fee to enter the FDS so as to discourage frivolous or simply non-competitive paintings. I think I'm decent at painting birds but the truth is I'd be wasting my time trying for the FDS. I'd have better odds of winning the lottery.
I enjoy looking at the different FDS images but honestly....they get a bit redundant after awhile: brown reeds, airbrushed soft focus background, etc. I really don't enjoy painting in the type of ultra "tight" style required to be competitive in this sort of bird art contest. Also, painting individual feathers - or individual scales and pores on game fish - isn't my cup of tea (most of the time). It takes great patience, time, and attention to detail to produce the kind of work that can win the FDS art competition.
I'd rather do "looser" paintings of fish.

 

[barbless]

I'd rather see "looser" paintings of fish, or birds, or what have you in the way of wildlife art. Whether it's watercolor impressionism like James Prosek or Mark Yuhina, or the blatant blatancy of that insane dude out in Colorado.

By the way, Fishidiot, that's a very nice goldfinch painting.

That maximum-detail stuff takes skill, no doubt. But typically, there's no motion to it. Not nearly enough life.

These Winslow Homer brook trout paintings have a neat balance of naturalistic realist detail, motion, and mystery to them.

http://www.winslow-homer.com/Leaping-Trout.jpg

another one

http://www.winslow-homer.com/A-Brook-Trout.jpg

I miss paintings on trout stamps. Having some generic parking lot sticker on my license just isn't the same thing.

fwiw, I'm also a non-resident agitator for higher PA non-res fishing license fees (with the caveat that they're well-spent, on habitat improvement instead of stockies.) Y'all are giving it away. Compare the price of a season license to the price of a ski lift pass or a golf greens fee.

 

[iceyguides]

1.) as a duck hunter i'm not happy with having to pay another $10 for the duck stamp on top of already having to buy a state license and migratory bird license. I know i'll still pay for it, but the duck hunting these past two years has been awful (last yr was widely considered one of the worst years ever), so it's kind of an "insult on top of injury" situation. i guess it's going to a good cause...

2.) I agree that i would like to see the artwork guidelines shifted to something "looser." I barely even look at the stamp itself anymore, because frankly, the "artwork" is boring. Essentially the artists are just trying to see who can best paint a photograph-like image. At that point why not just slap a photograph on there and save everyone time and hassle? The older stamps were much more interesting and artistic. They had movement and evoked feeling.

3.) Barbless, it's funny that you bring up winslow homer. he is my favorite artist and although i don't think he ever made a duckstamp, his "right and left" painting of two goldeneyes probably would have made a great, artistic duck stamp.

 

[Fredrick]

Plenty of ducks on the sod banks in Jersey hunt there

 

[Aducker]

IMO they got greedy. If they had only proposed to raise the stamp to $18 it would have never been an issue and the bill would have passed. In the past when the stamp price went up it was in small incriments. I'm surprised it has stayed at $15 this long.

The article never really references what the original bill was does it?

FYI - The migatory bird stamp is also used by non hunters also. It is used as a season pass to national wildlife refuges. Many bird watchers visit these refuges doing their thing. They help boost the travel industry. It's surprisingly big buisness.

Our states depend on these sales to run their natural resource programs. Sales of hunting licenses are down from where they were 20 years ago so sales of stamps are down also. State and federal agencies are trying to balance raising the costs of licenese and stamps. Since the numbers are down there is always a fear of raising the cost too much because it may deter some people from buying.

 

[martin0206]

I've been buying a duck stamp every year since I started hunting and usually get out to hunt ducks a few times a year. I would be ok with paying a little more if I knew every dollar was going directly to protect or acquire more wetlands for the birds. Going up $10 is a little steep and will probably cause a decent percent of people to think twice about buying it. I do look forward to seeing the artwork on the stamp each year.

 

[just_jon]

I've purchased 2 stamps every year since 1969. One was purchased to comply with waterfowl hunting requirement and the other was retained for framing. I did the same for trout stamps and was disappointed when they stopped using actual stamps.

 

[osprey]

Dave , like most folks who are great at what they do , you sell yourself short my friend or should i say "loose" i love the goldfinch too.

 

[BlkLgbEaDheAd09]

Chaz Wrote:

Isn't the stamp for all migratory birds?

its called a federal DUCK stamp for hunting only waterfowl. you need to spend an extra $3.50 and purchase a migratory game bird license in order to hunt all additional migratory birds in pa.