Department of the Interior

Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release:
April 19, 2006
Contact: Hugh Vickery
202-501-4633

Acting Secretary Scarlett To Open 2006 National Junior Duck Stamp Contest


WASHINGTON- Acting Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett will open the 2006 Junior Duck Stamp National contest at the South Interior Building at 10 a.m. EDT on April 20. The 14th annual contest includes 52 waterfowl art pieces completed by K-12 students from every state, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa.

The festivities will commence with the unveiling the 2006-2007 Federal Duck Stamp. Present at the event will be the 2005 Federal Duck Stamp winner, Sherrie Russell Meline and her son Scott Russell, winner of the 1997 Junior Duck Stamp Contest, as well as Jaye Boswell, a founder of the Junior Duck Stamp program (all available for interviews upon request).

Paul Schmidt, assistant director for migratory birds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other USFWS officials will also be present.

The winning entry will be used to create the Federal Junior Duck Stamp and will be featured on limited edition prints and other licensed products. The first-place artist will receive $5,000. After the awards event, D.C. school students will be taken across the street to Constitution Gardens to sketch waterfowl with Sherrie and Scott.

Some 27,000 students nationwide - public school, private, home schooled - participate in the Junior Duck Stamp curriculum which teaches conservation through the arts.

Who: Acting Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett

What: Fourteenth Annual Junior Duck Stamp National Contest

When: 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, April 20th.

Where: South Interior Building Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, (Enter at rear of building near corner of 19th St. & Virginia Ave. NW). Media attending need photo identification.