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PHOTO AVAILABLE: Rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker Stamps Signed By Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee Submitted By Larry Chandler Art

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Stamsp Endorsed by Governor of Arkansas

New conservation stamps and limited edition prints
to raise much-needed funds to save the recently rediscovered Ivory-billed Woodpecker have been endorsed and signed by Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Patterned after the highly-successful Federal Duck Stamp (required since 1934 for all U.S. waterfowl hunters age 16 and up) and Arkansas Duck Stamp Prints, the design came from the original oil painting "Elusive Ivory" by wildlife artist Larry Chandler of Hartselle, Alabama.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker made headlines worldwide after a press conference on its rediscovery April 28, 2005 at the U.S. Department of the Interior Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The last confirmed sighting of the bird, before the one in Eastern Arkansas in February 2004, is from the 1944, almost 60 years earlier.

Skeptical ornithologists were convinced it exists after hearing new audio released to the public at the American Ornithologists Union meeting August 24, 2005 of the bird's unique "kent" calls, which were documented in 1935.

The price range for all items offered by the Official Ivory-billed Woodpecker Conservation Stamp
Print Program starts at $9.00 for a Cloisonne collector pin and go up to $315.00 for the special Search Team Edition print hand-signed by the artist and all four members of a search team who first observed the bird along the Cache River in what's called the Big Woods area of Eastern Arkansas.

Proceeds from the sale of conservation stamps and prints will be evenly divided between The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Nature Conservancy and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.

With stamp collecting considered among the most popular hobbies all across the globe, publisher Larry Grisham said, "I expect we could sell over 200,000 of these stamps, which would raise well over a million dollars to help protect this gravely endangered woodpecker species."

A limited 500 print Governor's Edition will be hand-signed by the artist and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and will also include the Official Arkansas State Seal for $265.00, including a mint unsigned Ivory-bill stamp.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the nation's most-respected rare bird research organization and provided the funding to acquire most of the current evidence. The new audio evidence was recorded by 24 Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) installed 153 times, for 2-4 weeks at a time,
in two main areas near the White River and Cache River National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas.

The Nature Conservancy is America's foremost non-profit conservation organization focusing on purchasing land in the United States critical for wildlife habitat has bought group bought thousands of acres of land nearby the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's rediscovery area.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation is the non-profit arm of the state wildlife department in Arkansas which is called the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Portions of the proceeds are planned for public education use and long-term protection of the bird.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker Conservation Stamp Print Program offers a tax-deductible contribution and an opportunity for buyers to demonstrate they have done something tangible to help this bird's cause.

More information, news, photos and video on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Conservation Stamp Print Program is available at www.ivory-bill-woodpecker.com.

More information is available at www.larrychandlerart.com and www.labradorstuff.com.

     
   President/CEO
   Larry Chandler Art
   Hartselle,    AL,    35640
   USA
   256-773-7893 (phone)
   lcart00@yahoo.com
   www.ivory-bill-woodpecker.com