Never Too Young

Think you're too young to win a national wildlife art competition? Think again. Just a year ago, young Madison Grimm (age six) won the 2013-2014 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest with her lifelike painting of a drake canvasback. She is the youngest artist to ever win the competition.

If that weren't spectacular enough, late last September her father, Adam Grimm, won the 2014-2015 Federal Duck Stamp Competition. It's the second time he's won, the first being in 1999. And when he won the first time, at age 21-yes, you may already have guessed it-he was the youngest artist to ever win that competition.

"This is the first time I've shared winning the title with my wife and children by my side," said Adam Grimm, "and it was an unbelievable experience. Winning the adult competition in the same year as my daughter winning the junior contest-and with the same species of waterfowl-and both of us having now earned the titles of youngest-ever in our respective contests, well, it just doesn't get any better than that!"

Madison Grimm added, "So far, it was the proudest moment of my life! I never thought it would be this big. And traveling with my Dad to different places has been really fun!"

If you'd like to enter the 2014-2015 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest, it's open to students from kindergarten through high school. Paintings are judged by age group on a state-by-state basis. A "Best of Show" painting is then chosen per state and submitted to the national competition.

Last year, more than 29,000 young people from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and several U. S. territories participated in the art contest. And there is more to win than just bragging rights. On the national level, the top three entries receive scholarship awards. For more information and details about entering, go to www.fws.gov/juniorduck.

Waterfowl hunters, age 16 and older, are required to purchase a federal duck stamp each year before hunting. The Federal Duck Stamp Program is the most successful wildlife conservation program in our nation's history. It has generated more than $850 million since 1934 to help protect and conserve some 6.5 million acres of wetlands and grasslands for wildlife habitat nationwide. Birders and other wildlife enthusiasts also purchase the stamps, knowing the money they donate will be used for wildlife conservation.

The daughter-father artist team of Madison and Adam Grimm were both born in Ohio, but now live with their other family members in Burbank, S.D.