A painting of a pair of snow geese by Rushford, Minn., artist Michael Sieve will be featured on the 2020 Minnesota Waterfowl Stamp. Sieve’s painting was the winning entry in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’s annual waterfowl contest. It was Sieve’s first time winning this contest.
Fifteen artists submitted entries and two advanced as finalists in the Thursday, Sept. 5 contest at the DNR’s Central Office in St. Paul. The other finalist was Scot Storm Freeport, Minn. A five-member panel of judges from the DNR, Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service selected the winning design.
The $7.50 Duck Stamp is required of all Minnesota waterfowl hunters ages 18 through 64. Stamp sales generate about $700,000 per year for state waterfowl habitat enhancement projects.
The DNR offers no prizes for the stamp contest winner, but the winning artist retains the right to reproduce the work. Each year, the entries are limited to a predetermined species that breeds in or migrates through Minnesota. The eligible species for the 2021 stamp design will be the greater scaup.
More information about habitat stamps is available on the DNR website at mndnr.gov.
