If you’re in the Berkeley area and into birds and art, you may want to stop by the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest being held at the David Brower Center today and tomorrow. The event, sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is the oldest and most prestigious wildlife art competition in the United States. The winning design chosen at the competition will grace the 2011-2012 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or Duck Stamp, the cornerstone of one of the world’s most successful conservation programs that supports the acquisition of millions of acres of wetland habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Audubon California is co-sponsoring the event because we recognize the duck stamp program has immeasurably bolstered bird and wildlife conservation in California. If you do drop by the contest, be sure to stop by Audubon California’s booth and say hello.

Here's a quick list of federal reserves in California funded in part with Duck Stamp funds:

• Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge
• Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
• Delevan National Wildlife Refuge
• Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
• Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
• Kern National Wildlife Refuge
• Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
• Merced National Wildlife Refuge
• Modoc National Wildlife Refuge
• North Central Valley National Wildlife Refuge
• Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
• San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex
• San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
• Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge
• Sutter National Wildlife Refuge
• Willow Creek-Lurline National Wildlife Refuge