Local artists were named winners in the 2012 Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Contest.

New Hampshire’s 2012 first-place winners in their age groups included:

? Grades K-3: Lydia Brown, 8, of Brookline; Declan Lister, 8, of Orford; and Heidi Dillon, 6, of Hebron.

? Grades 4-6: Ella Erwin, 10, of Bedford; Gabrielle Paquet, 11, of Nashua; and Sierra Davis, 11, of Harrisville.

? Grades 7-9: Samantha Merrill, 12, of Stratham; Rachel Fonseca, 12, of Hampstead; and Isabelle Kapoian, 13, of Bedford.

? Grades 10-12: Jessica Gray, 16, of Manchester; Taylor Carter, 17, of Penacook; and Amanda Lewis, 17, of Swanzey.

The students who earned first-place awards earned $75 prizes for their entries in the contest. New Hampshire’s portion of the contest is coordinated by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Gray, a 16-year-old Manchester West High School student, took top honors among young New Hampshire artists in the 2012 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Contest.

Gray’s mixed media painting of mallards, titled “Winter by the Cattails,” was chosen from among 90 entries as New Hampshire’s State Best of Show in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest.

Gray will be awarded a $500 scholarship prize made possible by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Gray was New Hampshire’s contestant in the 2012 National Junior Duck Stamp Contest, which was held on April 20 in Maryland.

Gray wrote the following conservation message to accompany her art: “Conservation groups are difficult to find and I want to help out.”

An online gallery of all the New Hampshire first-place winning entries can be seen at www.wildnh.com/Education/Jr_Duck/Gallery_12.htm.