Duck Stamp art exhibit opens on Sanibel

The nation's oldest, most prestigious art contest, the Federal Duck Stamp, is coming next week to Sanibel Island for the selection of the 2008-09 duck stamp. Washington, D.C., and Memphis are the only other places that have hosted the contest in the past 75 years.

The exhibit will open to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 1 p.m. in BIG ARTS¿ Phillips Gallery. It will display all 247 entries into the competition, from which the next stamp will be selected.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to hold the anniversary event on Sanibel to honor Jay "Ding" Darling, the nationally known cartoonist and conservationist who designed the first Federal Duck Stamp in 1934. He created the program as a federal tax required for hunting migratory waterfowl.

The $15 stamp is the cornerstone of one of the world's most successful conservation programs. Money from duck stamp sales provides a vital tool for wetland conservation. Since the stamp's inception, nearly $700 million has been raised to acquire more than 5.2 million acres of habitat and hundreds of refuges across the nation.

The gallery will be open for viewing Monday through Saturday 1 to 4 p.m. through Oct. 20. Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne and other government dignitaries will be on hand during the judging events. ¦

For more information on events surrounding

the Duck Stamp Contest and

concurrent "Ding" Darling Days birding

and eco-festival, visit www.fws.gov/

duckstamp75 or www.dingdarlingdays.

com.