LAS CRUCES, NM - The Bureau of Land Management Las Cruces District is sponsoring a photo contest and inviting public land users to submit their favorite photograph(s) of a special landscape, plant, animal or object located on public land.  The grand prize winner will receive a 2020 Las Cruces District Office Annual Pass featuring their photograph.    Compliments of the Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, the pass is valued at $30 and will allow the winner to visit and enjoy BLM’s Dripping Springs Natural Area, Aguirre Spring Campground and Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.

This year’s contest will focus on photographs from remote and secluded landscapes, objects, plants or animals that an individual and/or family encounter during their visits to public land.

The photo contest will run from now until Oct. 26, 2019.  The contest rules include:

• Photos must be taken in the BLM Las Cruces District public land areas.
• Photographs must be in color, horizontal, and the highest quality no smaller than 4x6 inches at 300 dpi.
• Cropped photos are eligible. Digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos will not be accepted. However, minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight color adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable.
• Participants retain their rights to their photograph. However, by entering the contest, participants grant the BLM a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer’s credit, as feasible.
• For photographs that include a recognizable person under 18 years of age, the photographer must provide written permission from a parent/guardian before the entry deadline.
• Objectionable or inappropriate content is ineligible for this contest and will be discarded.
• Images are limited to .jpeg files only and should include: subject, location, photographer’s name (i.e., antelopeOteroMesaJohnDoe.jpg).
• All photos should be taken by the contest participant.

Entries will be judged based on creativity, quality and their overall impact. The grand prize winner will be selected by BLM Las Cruces employees and volunteers.

No more than three photographs per person can be submitted to sturman@blm.gov. A photograph description and location is requested.  However, the BLM will not disclose the locations of the photographs or any personal information about the photographers.

For more information on the photo contest rules, the public can contact Sylvia Turman, BLM Las Cruces District park ranger, at 575-525-4414.