The Pacific Salmon Foundation has officially released the winning image, created by a Salmon Arm artist, in its annual Salmon Conservation Stamp Competition.

Valerie Rogers was awarded first place for her submission, Rapid Ascent, which was one of 20 entries in the 2023/2024 competition.

Although she was aware of her win in November 2022, the foundation issued an official news release Jan. 16.

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Her winning entry will be featured on the 2023/2024 Salmon Conservation Stamp, a required purchase to catch and keep any species of Pacific salmon caught in the marine environment in B.C.

An award-winning professional artist, Rogers is a first-time winner of the PSF Salmon Conservation Stamp competition. The news release describes her as a Salmon Arm-based wildlife and nature artist who draws inspiration for her paintings from a lifetime spent outdoors 鈥� boating, hiking, and horseback riding in the Canadian wilderness. She creates detailed, realistic paintings of wildlife to connect people with nature. It notes she spends recreational time on Shuswap Lake and other local waterways in Interior B.C., including the Adams River, where she views the famous sockeye run.

鈥淭his painting features a Chinook salmon and his fierce battle upriver to return to his home to reproduce. Here he has broken free from the constraints of the turbulent water and is successfully airborne over the falls,鈥� Rogers is quoted.

Rogers was named the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia Artist of the Year in 2014 and has twice received BC Wildlife Federation鈥檚 Artist of the Year title.

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Through the individual purchase of each $6.24 Salmon Conservation Stamp, hundreds of thousands of recreational anglers support Pacific salmon conservation and restoration efforts, notes the release. In 2022, the foundation granted more than $1.3 million to 161 grassroots Pacific salmon conservation projects in communities across B.C. and the Yukon through the Community Salmon Program.

鈥淔or over 30 years, PSF has stewarded revenue from the Salmon Conservation Stamp on behalf of DFO to advance critical salmon restoration, conservation, and enhancement projects in British Columbia and the Yukon,鈥� said Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in the release. 鈥淲e all want to return this keystone species to abundance. This partnership between the sport fishing community, PSF and DFO represents a vital form of collaboration required to rebuild and restore Pacific salmon populations and their habitats.鈥�

An annual Salmon Conservation Stamp, valid between April 1 and March 31 of each fishing season, can be purchased online or through an Independent Access Provider.

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