Bringing Back the
Birds
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In 1934, our nation discovered its natural
bounty had limits. The continental population of waterfowl reached
its lowest point in recorded history—approximately 27 million
birds.
Through the Federal Duck Stamp Program,
conservationists, artists, hunters and the federal government joined
forces to conserve our country's natural resources. Together, they
found a way to save our migratory waterfowl for future generations.
Image
(left):
A morning's work—duck hunters, Lake County,
California, 1906
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The First Federal
Duck Stamp
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Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling (1876-1962), the
designer of the first Federal Duck Stamp, was a Pulitzer
Prize-winning cartoonist for the Des Moines Register. His greatest
enthusiasm was for conservation.
In the 1930s, he answered a call from
Washington to aid the migratory waterfowl crisis. He served as a
member of two committees that examined the crisis, and also was chief
of the U. S. Biological Survey, 1934-35.
He was one of the leading advocates of the
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act.
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Image
(left):
This cartoon on conservation typifies the many
created by Ding Darling.
Courtesy Ding Darling Foundation
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Stamp
Design
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Ding Darling's etching Mallards Dropping
In became the design of the first Federal Duck Stamp issued in
1934. Haunted by the inadequacies of this hastily composed artwork,
Darling sketched variations and gave them to friends for more than
twenty years after the issuance of the stamp.
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The 1934 Federal Duck Stamp graces this North
Dakota hunting license. For the first time, all waterfowl hunters
over the age of 16 were required to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp and
affix it to a state hunting license.
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Art In the
Service of Conservation
The Federal Duck Stamp is the only U. S.
stamp whose design is traditionally chosen through an art contest.
Each year, hundreds of wildlife artists from all over the country
enter the Federal Duck Stamp Design Contest. The winning design
appears on the following year's stamp.
Although the winner receives no money from
the federal government, the artist can expect to earn hundreds of
thousand of dollars, mostly from the sale of limited edition prints
of the original artwork.
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Accomplished wildlife artist Bob Hines was
chosen to created the 1946 Federal Duck Stamp. Until 1949, the stamp
was designed by an artist appointed by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. In 1947, Hines was hired to administer the program, a
position he held for 32 years.
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The original artwork for the 1946 Federal
Duck Stamp, an ink drawing by Bob Hines, shows a male Redhead
Duck landing amid a small swimming flock. The U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service returned Hines' first attempt, requesting that he
take out a second flock of ducks.
Courtesy of an anonymous lender.
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Remarques
Artists create special collectibles called
remarques by painting or drawing an image on one of the duck stamps
they have designed. The image can either mirror the design of the
stamp or be a different pose of the same species. A tribute remarque
results when an artist creates an image on a stamp designed by
another artist.
The evolution of Federal Duck Stamps can be
seen in this series, which includes a stamp from each decade. The
stamps signed by Ken Michaelsen are tribute remarques to deceased
artists on the stamps they created. Michaelsen designed the 1979
Federal Duck Stamp.
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Fulvous Whistling Duck painted by
Burton Moore. This southern species had never been featured on a
Federal Duck Stamp until this 1986 issue.
Courtesy of an anonymous lender.
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Ding Darling and
Maynard Reece
Artists, Conservationists and Friends
Perhaps the two most significant artists in
the history of the Federal Duck Stamp Program were Ding Darling and
Maynard Reece. The two duck stamp artists, hunters and Iowans seemed
destined to become close friends.
As a hunter, Reece knew duck stamps were, but
he found out about the Federal Duck Stamp Design Contest from
Darling. Darling critiqued the aspiring wildlife artist's paintings
and offered advice. Reece improved to the level where Darling felt he
could not longer teach him. "He was wrong," Reece said. "He helped me
until the day he died."
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Jay N. "Ding" Darling, 1876-1962
Courtesy Ding Darling Foundation
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Maynard Reece became one of the greatest duck
stamp artists. Between 1949 and 1971, he won the Federal Duck Stamp
Design Contest five times, a feat no other artist has matched.
Courtesy Maynard Reece Gallery
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Reece created these remarques of the five
Federal Duck Stamps he designed.
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Tribute remarque to Ding Darling
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Reece's letter explains his tribute remarque
to his longtime friend Ding Darling.
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Links
For more information on the Federal Duck
Stamp, visit the website of the Federal Duck Stamp Office
Federal Duck Stamp
Office
For more information on collecting Federal
Duck Stamps, visit the website of the National Duck Stamp Collectors
Society
National Duck Stamp Collectors
Society
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