Page 6 - 2020 Jan/Feb Outdoor Oklahoma

INDIANA ARTIST’S WORK WILL GRACE

2020-21 STATE WATERFOWL STAMP

An Indiana artist’s painting collected the
most votes in this year’s Oklahoma Waterfowl
Stamp art competition. The depiction of a pair
of Canada geese by Noblesville, Ind., artist
Anthony J. Padgett earned first place. Padgett’s
artwork will be featured on Oklahoma’s water-
fowl stamp for the 2020-21 hunting seasons.
The entry was among 35 eligible artworks
submitted last summer by hopeful artists from
across the nation. Oklahoma’s contest is open to
any artist regardless of residency, and the winner
is selected based on internal Wildlife Depart-
ment judging and online voting by the public.
Artists who received honorable mention for
their entries are Payton Christensen, Spanish
Fork, Utah; Justin Madding, Danville, Ark.;
and Buck Spencer, Junction City, Ore.
The Oklahoma waterfowl stamp program Winner: Anthony J. Padgett, Noblesville, Ind.
was designed to ensure quality habitat for the
hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese that migrate
through the state each year. The program began in 1980 and
features portraits of the state’s diverse waterfowl species by
some of the nation’s best artists.
The program generates funding for waterfowl conservation
projects through the sale of waterfowl licenses, which are required
of waterfowl hunters, and stamp sales, many of which are pur-
chased by collectors. The new stamps will go on sale around July
1 in the Outdoor Store at license.GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com.
The waterfowl stamp program has funded the purchase of
nearly 12,000 wetland acres along with the enhancement, cre-
ation, restoration and maintenance of thousands of addition-
al acres of critical waterfowl habitat. Wetland development
units such as Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area in
southwestern Oklahoma and Red Slough WMA in McCur-
tain County have benefited from state duck stamp funds. Honorable Mention: Justin Madding, Danville, Ark.

Honorable Mention: Buck Spencer, Junction City, Ore. Honorable Mention: Payton Christensen, Spanish Fork, Utah.

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