Latest news with #JuniorDuckStamp
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AHS senior claims both first place and Best in Show in Junior Duck Stamp competition
Apr. 9—As a sophomore, Austin High School's Callie Hillman won third place in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp competition for Minnesota. A year later she came in second. There's only one way to take the trend from there and Hillman did it in a big way. This year, Hillman not only closed in first place in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Junior Duck Stamp competition for Minnesota, she was also awarded Best in Show making her eligible to compete in the National Junior Duck Stamp Competition. While she's not the first student from Austin Public Schools to win first place, she is the first to claim both prizes. "I was surprised. I really didn't think I could win," Hillman said. "It showed that all of my hard work paid off. It was my goal all year to at least get the chance to compete at the national level." Hillman's winning artwork is of a pair of mallards standing in a patch of grass titled "Morning on the Lakeside." She chose the mallards because of how common and recognizable they are to the state of Minnesota. At the same time Junior Duck Stamp has been an opportunity for Hillman to combine things she really enjoys: art and nature, while supporting what the Duck Stamp represents. "I like seeing the wildlife and I like how it promotes the preservation of wetlands," Hillman said. Hillman's art teacher, Jake Levisen, said that it's been fun watching Hillman build and advance her talents to the point that she is the first Austin student to win both awards in the annual contest. Levisen, who has finished second in the Duck Stamp competition, noted just how hard she works to advance her techniques including the time she puts in, which in this case was around six hours worth of work. "Cassie always asks what's next. She's always up for the challenge," Levisen said, later adding: "I just want to emphasize just how proud I am with the amount of work she puts into her artwork." While her art remains an enjoyable outlet for Hillman, who is looking at studying animal science in college, the image she captured is a simple vision of the beauty of Minnesota wildlife. "It's a duck everybody knows and is really common around Minnesota," she said. "It's basic, but still really pretty." The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program works to teach wetland and waterfowl conservation to students taking part, which ranges from kindergarten through high school. The national winner will serve as the design for the Junior Duck Stamp, which is produced annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sold for $5, revenue generated goes toward supporting the recognition and environmental education activities for students participating in the program.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Field Reports: 80,000 hatchery steelhead dumped into Rock Lake
Feb. 7—Some 80,000 young hatchery steelhead are exploring their new digs in a lake in Whitman County. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife released the rainbow trout into Rock Lake near Ewan last Sunday. WDFW said in a blog post that the fish were available because the agency dropped its early winter steelhead hatchery program at its Tokul Creek Hatchery on the Snoqualmie River last year. The program ended to reduce interbreeding between early hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead. It was one of two that was nixed — a similar program at the Dungeness Hatchery on the Dungeness River also ended last year. WDFW plans to work with tribal officials to develop a hatchery program that uses wild steelhead as broodstock. But ending the hatchery programs meant there were a bunch of rainbows that needed somewhere to go. Rock Lake was chosen as one destination because the 2,190-acre lake in the scablands isn't connected to any streams where there are wild steelhead. The rainbows aren't big. WDFW estimated there are about 10 fish per pound, but that they'll grow quickly and will be catchable sizes by late summer. Because the fish have no shot at becoming true steelhead, which migrate to the ocean, anglers don't need a catch record card to target them. More fish still need to be disbursed from the hatchery. WDFW said in its blog post that stocking will continue, with additional fish destined either for Rock Lake or other nonanadromous lakes. Junior Duck Stamp contest entries due soonThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting entries for its annual Junior Duck Stamp contest. Entries in the contest must be postmarked or in-hand at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge by Saturday, according to a news release. Students from kindergarten through high school compete in this free contest each year. The news release says the object is for students to show what they've learned about waterfowl by drawing or painting a native north American duck, goose or swan. The winning artwork from the national contest becomes the Junior Duck Stamp for the following year. This year's Junior Duck Stamp features a king eider painted by 17-year-old Emily Lian of Oregon. There is a Washington state contest and a national contest. Winners of the Washington contest move on to the national one. Last year's "Best of Show" winner for the Washington contest was 15-year-old Yvonne Yin. Spokane Audubon to meet this week Island conservation is on the agenda for the Spokane Audubon Society's meeting this week. The organization's Wednesday meeting will feature a presentation on invasive species removal on islands by Heath Packard, the chief philanthropy officer for Island Conservation. The meeting will be conducted at the Shadle Park Library from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and virtually via Zoom. A link is available at Packard once served as the Washington state policy director for the National Audubon Society. He'll talk about work to remove invasive species from islands and will present examples from all over the world.
