A portrayal of a Trumpeter swan won first place in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest held in Washington, D.C. on April 26. The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An acrylic painting by Aremy McCann, an 18-year-old from St. Joseph, Minn., was judged the top painting among the 51 state winners (includes District of Columbia). McCann’s painting became the 2001-02 Federal Junior Duck Stamp. Aremy is home schooled by her mother, Tammy McCann. Students from Minnesota have won the contest two years in a row. Last year Bonnie Latham of Hastings brought home first place. Lindsay Simon, age 17, of Orange, Texas, took second place with her acrylic painting of a Hooded merganser. Lindsay studies at A Little Cypress Mauriceville High School. Tommy Humphrey is her art teacher. Stephanie Bishop of Forest Grove, Oregon, took third with “Ruffled Feathers,” a mallard duck pastel on a suede mat board. The 15-year-old is home schooled by teacher Roberta St. Louis. Creating the Junior Duck Stamp design is a major part of the year long Junior Duck Stamp conservation curriculum used by educators in their classrooms. Each state sends their Junior Duck Stamp design entries to a designated point where they are judged by a group of people active in the local wildlife art or conservation community. State “Best of Show” winning designs are sent to Washington, D.C., where three national winners are chosen by a panel of five judges. The top three Junior Duck Stamp Contest winners receive a free trip to Washington, D.C., along with their art teachers and one of their parents, the following November to be honored at the Federal Duck Stamp Contest. The first-place winner also receives a $2,500 scholarship award. The Trumpeter swan is the largest waterfowl species native to North America. Trumpeter swans can weigh up to 35 pounds and have 8-foot wingspans. Their name comes from their trumpet-like call. Through efforts of reintroduction and the establishment of national wildlife refuges, there are about 500 trumpeter swans in the Midwest, more than 500 in the tri-state area of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, and more than 1,600 in Canada. There were fewer than 70 in the continental United States in 1932. For more information on the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program, contact Ms. Terry Bell, Federal Duck Stamp Office, 1849 C Street, NW, Room 2058, Washington, D.C. 20240; 202- 208-4354.