SOUTH DAKOTA DEPT. OF GAME, FISH AND PARKS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 5, 2005
CONTACT: Chad Tussing, 773-2541

South Dakota Winners of Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest

PIERRE, S.D. -- Wildlife Forever recently announced South Dakota’s winners for the 2005 Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. A distinguished panel of judges selected the South Dakota winners, who include:

• Grades 4-6, Austin Lemieux - Pierre
• Grades 7-9, Travis Ellendorf – Spearfish
• Grades 10-12, Jeremy Drees - Aberdeen

"We would like to commend the winning artists and all the students, parents and educators from South Dakota who participated in the 2005 State-Fish Art Contest," said Douglas H. Grann, President and CEO of Wildlife Forever. "Together, we are using art to educate the next generation of aquatic stewards. The announcement of the winners of the State-Fish Art Contest on Earth Day every year is a fun and exciting time. The quality of artwork submitted this year was consistently outstanding. The judges had a very difficult time choosing the top entries."

Contest winners will be invited to the 7th Annual State-Fish Art Expo at Mall of America on July 2. A massive art display in the Mall’s Sam Goody Central rotunda will feature all the outstanding artwork from across the country, and an Awards Ceremony will recognize the talented young artists. Prizes are many for the 2005 State-Fish Art Contest winners. Each young artist will receive a special gift certificate for art supplies from Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, plus fishing gear from Rapala. The event at Mall of America is free and open to the public.

In addition, artists and their families attending the Expo will receive free entry to the Metrodome to watch the Minnesota Twins face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 3. The artists and their artwork will be recognized in a special pre-game ceremony on the playing field.

An outstanding piece of art entered in the 2005 State-Fish Art Contest will be reproduced as a conservation stamp. Proceeds from the stamp will be used to fund conservation projects across America.

To enter the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, young artists create an illustration of their state fish and a written composition on its behavior, habitat and efforts to conserve it. Entries are categorized in three grade levels: 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. Educators nationwide have utilized the full-color State-Fish Art Contest Lesson Plan, an interdisciplinary educational supplement specific to aquatic natural resources that includes extensive background information, a species identification section profiling each state fish, a glossary and student worksheets. The lesson plan can be downloaded at no cost from the State-Fish Art website, www.statefishart.com.

Located in Brooklyn Center, MN, Wildlife Forever is a non-profit multi-species conservation organization dedicated to preserving America’s wildlife heritage. Working at the grassroots level, Wildlife Forever has funded conservation projects in all 50 states, committing millions of dollars to "on the ground" efforts. Wildlife Forever values habitat restoration and enhancement, land acquisition, research and management of fish and wildlife populations.

For information on the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, visit online at www.statefishart.com.

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