COLUMBUS, OH – Brian Blight, of Old Forge, Pennsylvania, was named winner on June 24 of the 2001 Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp design competition, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

His painting of a lone canvasback duck sitting on water will appear next fall on the 2001 Ohio wetlands stamp. The stamps are purchased by more than 30,000 waterfowl hunters and collectors at a cost of $11 each. Proceeds from the sale of these stamps help fund wetlands restoration projects in Ohio and Ontario, Canada.

Second place honors went to 1994 Ohio wetlands stamp design winner Richard Clifton, of Milford, Delaware with his rendering of a pair of green-winged teal. Clifton also placed third in last year’s Ohio wetlands stamp design competition. Third-place honors in Saturday’s event held in Newark, were awarded to Joel Rogers, of Hudson, Ohio for his portrait of a single wood duck.

Semi-finalists included Dan Brevick, of Chatfield Minnesota; Phil Brevick, of London, Ohio; Everett Hatcher, of Birmingham, Alabama; and Jeffrey Klinefelter, of Etna Green, Indiana.

Blight, Rogers, and Dan Brevick were among the semifinalists in last year’s competition.

"I regard this as a terrific honor and am quite pleased to have won an Ohio stamp design competition. This means a lot to me as a former student of the Columbus College of Art and Design," said Blight.

He has provided the winning design in similar competitions for the 1997 Nevada waterfowl stamp, the 1998 Massachusetts primitive and archery deer season stamp, and the 1998 Florida waterfowl stamp. Blight, a 1996 graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, also finished ninth in the 1997 federal duck stamp design competition.

Blight’s entry was selected best among a field of 33 entries of original paintings submitted by artists in 15 states, including twelve from Ohio. Mark Anderson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, last year’s stamp design winner, was not eligible by contest rules to enter this year’s event, the Division of Wildlife said. Anderson’s painting of a pair of buffleheads is featured on the 2000 Ohio wetlands stamp that goes on sale in late August.

The Division of Wildlife conducts its juried art competition a year in advance of the issuance of a new state wetlands habitat stamp. The stamps go on sale each August through December 31 of the following year. All unsold stamps are then destroyed to maintain their value to collectors.

Judges for this year’s event included Steve Wyckoff, Ducks Unlimited regional vice-president for the Northeast Mississippi Flyway, Brian Armitage, director of the Ohio Biological Survey, John Kason, wildlife management supervisor for the Cleveland Metroparks, Scott Carpenter, past secretary-treasurer of the Outdoor Writers of Ohio and media relations manager for the Toledo Metroparks; Phil Witt, an Ohio hunting guide and lodge owner, and alternate judge Greer Rouda of Columbus.