N.C. Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print Unveiled at East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 13, 2008) – “Surf Scoters over the Atlantic” by Minnesota artist Scot Storm was selected as the 2008 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print.

The portrait, which depicts a trio of surf scoters flying low along the crest of ocean waves, was unveiled at the 13th Annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and the N.C. Decoy Carving Championships at the Washington Civic Center in Beaufort County during an evening preview reception on Friday.

Storm was one of more than 50 wildlife artists from around the country, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico to submit entries for the first annual State of North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp Competition. The competition was a joint venture between the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild.

Representing the Wildlife Resources Commission at the unveiling were former Wildlife Commissioner and current N.C. Rep. Arthur Williams of Washington, Wildlife Commissioners Durwood Laughinghouse, Wes Seegars and Mitch St. Clair, Sr.; and interim Executive Director of the Commission Fred Harris. 

In addition to Storm’s portrait, four other paintings, rounding out the top five entries as selected by a panel of judges on Jan. 28, were unveiled during the reception. They are:

2nd Honorable Mention – Snow Geese by Jeffrey Klinefelter, Etna Green, Ind.

1st Honorable Mention – Snow Geese by Robert Metropulos, Jr., Hazel Hurst, Wis.

3rd Place – Snow Geese by Steve Oliver, Brookhaven, Pa.

2nd Place – Snow Geese by Hank Buffington, Lancaster, Pa.

Signed and numbered regular edition prints with mint stamps of the winning portrait will be available from the Commission on July 1 for $145. The stamp is $10.

Proceeds from sales of the print and stamps will go to the Commission’s Waterfowl Fund, which generates revenue for the conservation of waterfowl habitat in North Carolina.

About the N.C. Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print Program

The N.C. Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print program, established in 1983 by the Commission, generates revenue for waterfowl conservation in the state, including acquiring and improving habitat. Proceeds from the sale of stamps and prints are designated for the Commission’s Waterfowl Fund, which has raised more than $4.3 million since its inception.

The money is used to help North Carolina meet its financial obligations in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the international agreement helping restore waterfowl populations throughout the continent. In addition, funds have been used to support waterfowl research and to buy equipment used to manage wetlands.

About the Artist – Scot Storm

An architect by training and an artist by instinct, Scot Storm combined a love for the outdoors with a passion for painting, eventually turning a part-time hobby into a full-time career. 

He first ventured into the world of wildlife art in 1987, entering the Minnesota Duck Stamp contest where he placed second. After that win, the self-taught artist continued to enter state stamp contests, winning his first top award, the Indiana Pheasant Stamp competition, in 1991.

In 1999, Storm permanently traded in his drafting pencil for a paintbrush, becoming a wildlife artist full-time. In the years since, he has amassed an impressive list of top finishes, including the holy grail of duck stamp contests — the federal duck stamp — which he won in 2004 with his vivid portrayal of a pair of redheads in flight over a North Dakota prairie pothole.

In 2005, Storm was selected as the Ducks Unlimited International Artist of the Year, a competition in which he has finished as one of the top three artists for the last five out of six years. He is up for the honor again this year.

Storm’s artistic subjects include sporting dogs, game birds, and other North American wildlife, such as elk, deer and gray wolves.  He lives in Freeport, Minn., with his wife Kristin and two children.

About the Festival

The East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships are annual highlights for Washington, which sits on the scenic Pamlico River in coastal North Carolina. The festival is sponsored by the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild, a 70-member group of local carvers and wildlife artists dedicated to providing educational activities associated with wildlife art and the preservation of eastern North Carolina’s wildlife heritage.

With its thousands of attendees whose interests lie in the conservation and management of our state’s wildlife resources, the weekend-long festival has been an ideal venue for the Commission’s waterfowl stamp unveiling since 1996. Each year, the unveiling occurs during the Friday evening corporate reception amid hundreds of onlookers.
 
In addition to the more than 80 wildlife art exhibitors, the festival features many other wildlife-related events, including duck-carving competition divisions, retriever demonstrations, wildlife art and decoy auctions, a children’s decoy-painting contest and various waterfowl-calling contests.