Duck

If the environment can't support beavers, ducks and moose, how long will it be able to support people? Issued on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Grey Owl's birth and the 50th anniversary of Ducks Unlimited Canada, this stamp issue draws attention to the need to preserve our environment through measures aimed at conservation of both wildlife and its habitat. Archibald Belaney was born in 1888 at Hastings, England. He immigrated to Canada at age 17 and went to live with the Ojibway Indians. They gave him the name "Wa-Sha-Quon-Asin", or Grey Owl. He became a great woodsman, living and thinking like an Indian. He spent the latter part of his life trying to prevent overtrapping from exterminating the beaver. His numerous books and lectures educated the public about the need to conserve wildlife and habitat. Grey Owl summed up his life's work as follows: "I came out of the shadows to speak my message, and into the shadows I shall return." Concerned sportsmen who saw the growing need for conservation of waterfowl breeding grounds formed Ducks Unlimited Canada in 1938. Since then this non-profit organization has spent millions to conserve and improve existing habitat and to construct new waterfowl nesting grounds. The background which connects these se-tenant stamps is a fresh-water marsh, prime habitat for Canada's wildlife. One stamp shows a duck about to land, the other a moose feeding in the water. The sombre graphic style used by the stamps' designers, Tiit Telmet and Joseph Gault of Toronto, conveys a sense of the threat faced by the environment, and gives urgency to the message on the stamps to conserve both wildlife and habitat.