Art argument a good reason to debate duck stamps

I got my 2021-22 federal duck stamp Wednesday, a stunning image of a lesser scaup.

The finish looks semi-metallic, emitting a three-dimensional sheen. I hated to spoil it by signing its face.

If you look closely, you’ll see a pair of wooden duck calls on a lanyard wrapped around some cattail stalks. The superfluous image is a controversial element among hunters, non-hunters, anti-hunters, art purists and dogmatists from all sides of the political and conservation spectrum.

Waterfowl hunters are required to purchase a $25 federal duck stamp annually. In Arkansas, we must also buy a state duck stamp. The public buys $1.5 million in duck stamps annually, with $24.50 from each stamp used to buy waterfowl habitat or acquire conservation easements for protection in the national wildlife refuge system.

Hunters buy 90% of duck stamps. Many buy two, one for hunting and and a second one for their collection. Non-hunting bird enthusiasts buy them, too. We strongly doubt that any anti-hunters buy them, if for no other reason than for the belief that doing so somehow endorses hunting.

A valid federal duck stamp also provides its holder free admission to American national wildlife refuges, except for the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Its manager, Bo Sloan, requires hunters and anglers to pay an additional $20 fee. We believed that a 2019 executive order by President Donald Trump to prohibit such arbitrary rule making would eliminate that permit, but it endures.

In January 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the hunting element rule for duck stamp artwork. The rule intended to acknowledge the role hunters play in waterfowl conservation, but cramming an additional element in the frame competes with the central element, which is always the duck.

Now, the Biden administration has rekindled the debate by proposing to eliminate the hunting element requirement for the 2023-24 duck stamp.

Artists who enter the duck stamp competition commented on the difficulty of adding an extraneous element to a very small medium. Others commented on the strong symbolism of hunting elements honoring the hunter’s contribution to waterfowl conservation.

Even though the duck stamp is a government document, commissioned by the government to fund a government program, the government shouldn’t meddle with art. May the best depiction of the year’s featured waterfowl species win, according only to its artistic merits as interpreted by the critical eyes of the judging panel. These decisions are based on composition, perspective and lighting, but also on the accuracy of the depiction. Judges look closely at things like feather barring, bill markings and other subtle features distinctive to a species.

During my time with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, I was tasked with soliciting artists for images that would be used for three years worth of Wildlife Habitat Donor patches. Wildlife and fisheries staff delighted in ripping apart the images, noticing obscurities such as an incorrect number of rays in a crappie’s dorsal fin. It was a heartburn hassle, but knowledgeable judges do take these things very seriously.

Adding a subjective, non-biological element dilutes the process, and also the purity of the intent.

Also, random elements that are essentially litter actually reflect poorly on hunters. I mean, how drunk was a hunter to leave his duck calls in the cattails? Do we really want to advertise leaving our spent shotgun hulls floating in the water?

An artist could really separate from the crowd by incorporating unconventional hunting elements, such as maybe a few ribbons of soggy toilet paper draped over a log or bush. How about a cellophane peanut butter cracker wrapper floating in the water?

A Bayou Meto WMA scene could have a duck swimming beside an old washing machine or a refrigerator.

On second thought, that’s not realistic anymore. George Cochran and his merry band of volunteers removed all that stuff over the years at the annual Bayou Meto WMA cleanup. This year’s cleanup will be Saturday at the Mulberry Access at 8 a.m., followed by a fish fry. Just show up, spend a couple of hours picking up trash and enjoy some great fellowship with fellow travelers.