BY LARRY RICHARDSON, MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

I am an artist, a writer and a naturalist. The woods and creeks of Kentucky where I was raised were always calling. I love wild places and the wild things that live there, and a series of paintings of the Cumberland River continue to occupy my easel.

Wild places are often epitomized by the sound of waterfowl passing overhead. Legendary composer Richard Rogers wrote, “Wild geese that fly with moon on their wings, these are a few of my favorite things,” in a song from The Sound of Music. The sights and sounds of ducks, geese and other water birds have quickened the heartbeat and awakened the wanderlust in all of us. But the wonders of nature were threatened in the not-toodistant past during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl drought through Middle America in the 1930s.

Miraculously, conservationists and Congress came together to create a funding source by establishing a nationwide system of waterfowl refuges. Income from a newly created waterfowl hunting license, affectionately known as the “Duck Stamp,” began paying for acquisition and maintenance of land and water across the country during a perilous economic and environmental period. The National Wildlife Refuge System was born as a safe haven, not only for water birds, but for hundreds of migrating and local animal species. Conservation financing continues as the result of an annual Duck Stamp license that bears an image of a duck, swan or goose selected by an art contest.

My wildlife career began with five years in the Tennessee Parks and Wildlife Departments. The culmination of my wildlife profession was spent in a dream job at Ducks Unlimited, the world’s largest wetlands conservation organization. In 2005, I was asked to assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Duck Stamp contest held in Memphis, Tennessee, where Ducks Unlimited is headquartered. It was the first-ever contest to be held outside of Washington, D.C.

Last summer, I received a phone call from Suzanne Fellows, Program Manager of the Federal Duck Stamp Office, asking me to serve as one of the five judges for the 2021 contest. I had to restrain myself from shouting YES! into the phone. This was a bucket list wish that happens only once in a lifetime.

The contest I helped judge was for choosing the 89th stamp image, the first being created by J. N. "Ding" Darling and commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. The stamp artists continued to be appointed until 1949, when the Duck Stamp contest was initiated. Since its beginning, over $800 million has been raised for the National Wildlife Refuge System from the sale of this license.

The judging group labored for three days over 135 entries from some of the country’s outstanding wildlife artists. These exquisite 7x10 inch works are not signed, keeping the judging process anonymous. During the final round, James Hautman of Minnesota was singled out with the winning entry for the new 2022 stamp featuring redhead ducks. Coincidently, this was the sixth time he has attained this honor. His brother Robert, who has placed first twice in previous years, this time won second place. His other brother, Joseph, has also won the contest five times. The mother of this talented family is an accomplished artist in her own right. James has been able to attract viewers by telling a visual story to which outdoors enthusiasts relate. You can tell that he has been there. One of my art mentors, Ralph McDonald, always structured his wildlife scenes as a pictorial narrative, making it come alive.

Clarksville-Montgomery County residents are fortunate to have the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge complex less than an hour away. The Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge on Barkley Lake between Dover and Cumberland City is the closest, while other portions are located on Kentucky Lake and include the Big Sandy Unit in Henry County, Duck River Unit in Humphreys County and Busseltown Unit in Decatur County. A visitor center with interpretive wildlife exhibits and hiking trails is located in Springville, Tennessee, just outside of Paris.

Wildlife exhibits at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center have covered everything from the waterfowl refuge at Reelfoot Lake to artwork by local and nationally renowned artists, such as bird artist Richard Sloan. This spring, the exhibit Society of Animal Artists: The Animals of North America is on view in Crouch Gallery from May 5 to June 26. Looking at the rivers, parks and wildlife of Middle Tennessee, the exhibit Tennessee Wild Side is on view in Orgain & Bruner Galleries from May 3 to June 22.

When not viewing wildlife and landscape scenes at the Museum, take your binoculars and enjoy our local wildlife and wild places.

cumberlandriverartist.com

fws.gov/refuge/tennessee

fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp.php