Duck and cover: Feds reinstate ‘duck stamp’ crown to 6-year-old

By Stephen Dinan

The Washington Times

The federal government late Thursday reinstated the 6-year-old winner of this year’s Junior Duck Stamp, after earlier accusing her of plagiarism and rescinding her award.

In a statement issued Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reversed itself and said that last month’s judging was fair and that Madison Grimm, the youngest winner in history, should be reinstated.

“The service’s decision to reinstate Grimm’s work was made in recognition of the fact that her work was judged the winner during a fair and open public contest,” the agency said in a statement. “The service respects the decision of the contest judges, and apologizes for any distress this process may have caused the top-placing artists and their families, teachers and friends.”

That means 17-year-old Peter Coulter, who was the runner-up then was declared the winner after Madison was disqualified, is now bumped back to second place again.

The agency’s decision comes after inquiries from reporters, including The Washington Times, on the controversy.

The Fish and Wildlife Service had first awarded Madison the crown and the $5,000 prize on April 19, then rescinded it after other parents complained that her work was too good to have been done by a 6-year-old.

Madison’s father, Adam, is a nationally known wildlife artist, and the agency said Madison violated the contest rules by tracing one of his photos and then painting it. But Mr. Grimm said the rules didn’t prohibit that, and the Grimm family was backed up by a former Duck Stamp Program chief who was involved in writing the rules and who said Madison’s entry appeared to be legitimate.

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