Feb. 13, 2019
Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications
LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation unveiled the artwork to be used on the 2019-20 Arkansas State Duck Stamp at the Arkansas Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus luncheon in downtown Little Rock. The event was part of an update to state legislators on work the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partners are doing to improve and maintain the valuable natural resources of The Natural State.
This is the first such unveiling of a state duck stamp in Arkansas, although the program has been in place for 38 years. During each of the last few years, AGFC has sold an average of 102,000 state duck stamps to resident and non-resident hunters. The agency spends funds from these stamps each year on improving habitat for waterfowl and providing access to public lands for many of the state’s duck hunters and bird watchers.
According to Deke Whitbeck, AGFF president, the foundation is charged with working with wildlife artists to create duck stamp artwork featuring different areas of the state to showcase Arkanasas’s vast diversity of waterfowl and wetland habitat.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who was on hand to unveil the image said the Arkansas state duck stamp is one of the most highly sought pieces of artwork at the Governor’s Mansion each year.
“It’s not just about the hundreds of thousands of hunters and anglers in the state of Arkansas, it’s part of who we as Arkansans are,” Hutchinson said.
This year’s featured print was painted by Mike Marlar, a North Little Rock native who is an avid duck hunter. The print depicts a scene of father and son hunting in flooded green timber- a rich Arkansas tradition Marlar remembers well from his time hunting Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge.