Adam Grimm of Wallace, South Dakota, was selected the winner of the 2020 Louisiana Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The annual contest picks the artwork that will be used on what is called the Louisiana Duck Stamp.

Grimm is a two-time winner of the Federal Duck Stamp contest, including the 1999 contest when he was only 21, the youngest winner ever. His Louisiana Duck Stamp painting features two ring-necked ducks resting on a pond with brown foliage in the background.

This was Grimm’s first time competing in the Louisiana contest. He won the Federal Duck Stamp contest in 1999 with a mottled duck painting and with canvasbacks in 2013. A featured artist in the Million Dollar Duck documentary about the Federal Duck Stamp competition, Grimm is highly acclaimed with several awards and victories to his credit, including a two-time winner (2005 and 2014) in the Ohio State Duck Stamp contest.

“We had 21 entrants, including two past Federal Duck Stamp contest winners and seven prior winners of the Louisiana Duck Stamp contest,’’ said LDWF Waterfowl Program Manager Larry Reynolds. “Consequently, we had a large group of really outstanding entries this year, but Grimm’s resting ringneck pair was so strikingly realistic that both the biologists and artists on the judging panel were drawn to it.’’

The vote in the second round of judging was unanimous for the winner.

Jeffrey Klinefelter of Etna Green, Indiana, a three-time winner of the Louisiana Duck Stamp competition (2004, 2008 and 2012), finished second in the judging. He has won numerous state duck stamp contests, including the North Carolina contest for the 2019-20 stamp.

Third place went to Anthony Padgett of Noblesville, Indiana. Padgett won the 2009 Louisiana Duck Stamp contest with his painting of a Chesapeake Bay retriever in the Retrievers Save Game series.

Ring-necked ducks were the featured species in this year’s competition. Also known as blackjacks or ringbills, ring-necked ducks are small to medium-sized diving ducks that are wintering in increasing numbers across Louisiana’s wetland habitats. Large numbers are seen in mostly freshwater coastal wetlands, Catahoula Lake, reservoirs and swamp habitat across north Louisiana.
 
Louisiana hunters harvested an average of 73,000 ring-necked ducks per season through the last 10 years, the seventh most abundant species in the state’s overall bag and often more than any other state in the Mississippi Flyway. The sound of wind rushing through the wings of a decoying flock of ring-necks is an exciting part of Louisiana’s duck hunting experience.

Judges for this year’s contest included James Harris, retired USFWS biologist and long-time coastal habitat manager at Delta National Wildlife Refuge; John Robinette, retired LDWF wildlife biologist/regional manager and wildlife artist from Lake Charles; Courtney Lichenstein, curator of a large waterfowl collection and member of the Ducks Unlimited State Chairman’s team from Houma; Randy Caminita, prominent wildlife artist from Folsom; and Fred Roetker, retired USFWS pilot-biologist from Lafayette.

The Louisiana Legislature authorized the Louisiana Waterfowl Conservation Stamp program in 1988. The program was created to generate revenue for conservation and enhancement of waterfowl populations and habitats in Louisiana. Since 1989, more than $14 million has been generated for wetland conservation with approximately $6 million spent on land acquisition.
 
In addition, revenues have supported wetland development projects on wildlife management areas and the Louisiana Waterfowl Project, a cooperative endeavor between LDWF, Ducks Unlimited, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide habitat for waterfowl and other wetland birds on private lands.

The 2020 stamp will go on sale June 1, 2020. The artist will retain the original artwork and will have reproduction rights to the image for prints and other commodities after LDWF has used the image to produce the stamps.

For video and an interview on the contest, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAbwihyJ_YA&feature=youtu.be.

For more information, contact Larry Reynolds at lreynolds@wlf.la.gov or 225.765.0456.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov. To receive recreational or commercial fishing email and text alerts, signup at www.wlf.la.gov/signup.