Contests
Poster Contest
The annual NACD and NACD Auxiliary Poster Contest provides students from kindergarten through 12th grade the chance to have their art displayed as part of a national conservation outreach initiative. Each year, the winning posters reflect NACD’s annual Stewardship theme and highlight the work of conservation districts and their state conservation associations, auxiliaries and agencies to protect and enhance natural resources. The contest starts at the district level; winners advance to the state level, and then to the national level, where they receive recognition at NACD’s annual meeting.
The poster contest is open to public, private and home-schooled students. The top three posters in each category of the national contest will receive monetary prizes. First-place winners will receive $200; second place winners will receive $150 and third place winners will receive $100. The NACD Auxiliary – through their quilt project proceeds, the Country Store at the NACD Annual Meeting and individual donors – sponsor prizes at the national level. Questions? Please contact stewardship[at]nacdnet.org.
All entries at the local and state-level contest must be submitted with this Local to State Form along with this contest entry form (placed on the back of each poster) by the due dates set by your local conservation district. Find contact information for your local conservation district on NACD’s Conservation District Directory. All poster submissions must be sponsored by a local conservation district.
Posters for the national contest will only be accepted from state poster contest organizers. All entries must be submitted with this State to National Entry Form along with this national form.
Only electronic submissions are accepted – photos or scanned copies of the hand-drawn posters. The electronic submission should capture the original poster without editing, and images should be clear (not blurry), well-lit and well-framed.
- Be sure to include both this entry form and the State to National form.
- Name the JPEG file for each poster submitted electronically in the following format: State_GradeLevel_LastName of the winner. Send the files with the appropriate forms to stewardship[at]nacdnet.org.
Questions? Please contact NACD at stewardship[at]nacdnet.org.
NACD 2021 Stewardship and Education Theme Details
Poster Contest Rules and Information PowerPoint Presentation
2021 Brochure: Healthy Forests = Healthy Communities
Additional Resources:
Judging Score Card Template |DOC|
Promotional Flyer |PDF|
NACD 2020 Stewardship and Education Theme Details
Poster Contest Rules and Information PowerPoint Presentation
First Place Certificate Template
Second Place Certificate Template
Third Place Certificate Template
2020 Brochure: Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators
Certificate of Participation Template
Additional Resources:
Judging Score Card Template |DOC|
Promotional Flyer |PDF|
NACD 2019 Stewardship and Education Theme Details
Poster contest rules and information PowerPoint presentation
Additional Resources:
Judging Score Card Template |PDF|
Resource List |PDF|
Poster Contest Brochure |PDF|
Click here to download the “Watersheds: Our Water, Our Home” logo from NACD’s Flickr page.
Click here to view and download a PowerPoint presentation detailing the 2018 poster contest rules and information.
Additional Resources:
Certificate of Participation Template |PDF|
Judging Score Card Template |DOC|
Promotional Flyer |PDF|
Resource List |PDF|
Poster Contest Brochure |PDF|
2018 1st Place Posters
10-12: Sarah Kim
Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
7-9: Haylea Knisley
Pickaway SWCD, OH
4-6: Kelsen Baughman
Rutherford County SCD, TN
2-3: Eva Alvarez Conservation Districts of Iowa
K-1: Elizabeth Jueneman
Washington County CD, KS
2018 Poster Contest Winners: Watersheds: Our Water, Our Home
2017 Poster Contest Winners: Healthy Soils Are Full of Life!
2016 Poster Contest Winners: We All Need Trees
2015 Poster Contest Winners: Local Heroes – Your Hardworking Pollinators
2014 Poster Contest Winners: Dig Deeper
2013 Poster Contest Winners: Where Does Your Water Shed?
2012 Poster Contest Winners: Soil to Spoon
2011 Poster Contest Winners: Forests for People, More Than You Can Imagine!
2010 Poster Contest Winners: Conservation Habits = Healthy Habitats
Photo Contest
The 2020 NACD Photo Contest deadline is Dec. 1, 2020. Winners will be announced on Feb. 7, 2021 at the NACD Annual Meeting in New Orleans, La.
NACD and the NACD Auxiliary host an annual Photo Contest, open to all amateur photographers who reside in the U.S. or its territories. Contestants are allowed to enter as many as five photos each year that each fit into one of the following four categories:
- Conservation Practices
- Close-up Conservation
- Conservation in Action
- Agriculture and Conservation Across America
Photos are judged on technical merit and composition. On technical merit, photos will be judged on whether they are well-framed, properly exposed, and sharp/clear. On composition, the photos will be judged on imagination and creativity. One winner will be selected for each category and age division (adults are 19 and older as of December 1, 2019.) Each first place winner at the national level will receive a $100 cash prize. Second place winners will receive $50. The NACD Auxiliary – through their quilt project proceeds, the Country Store at the NACD Annual Meeting and individual donors – sponsor prizes at the national level. Honorable mention award winners will also be selected for each category but will not receive a monetary award.
Questions? Contact NACD at stewardship[at]nacdnet.org.
Complete and submit this entry form and photo release for each photo you would like to enter into the contest, along with the photos you are submitting, by email to stewardship[at]nacdnet.org. Photos must be in a JPEG or TIFF file format. If you are submitting a photo in which a subject or model’s face is recognizable, you must also complete and attach this subject and model release with your photo/s.
Minor digital enhancements for cropping, red-eye removal, filters and corrective functions are permitted; however, an image judged to be significantly altered may be disqualified. Contestants are not permitted to place borders, frames or backgrounds around their images or to place watermarks, dates, signatures or copyright images onto photos. Previously published photos are not eligible for the NACD Photo Contest.
All entries become the property of NACD. As such, NACD reserves the non-exclusive right to use submissions in official publications and for promotional purposes. The photographer retains rights and use to their photo.
All emailed photo files must be named by category, age division, last name, state and photo number. If you are submitting only one photo in a category, your photo number is “1.” Additional photos in the same category should be numbered consecutively. Name the photo file for each entry as follows:
- Conservation Practices
- Adult: CP-A- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Youth: CP-Y- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Conservation in Action
- Adult: CIA-A- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Youth: CIA-Y- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Close Up Conservation
- Adult: CUC-A- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Youth: CUC-Y- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Ag/Conservation Across America
- Adult: ACAA-A- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
- Youth: ACAA-Y- LastName_FirstInitial-State-#
For example, John Smith, a 16-year-old from Texas, wishes to submit three photos, one in the Close Up Conservation category and two in Conservation in Action. His file names would read as follows:
- CUC-Y-Smith-J-TX-1
- CIA-Y-Smith-J-TX-1
- CIA-Y-Smith-J-TX-2
Questions? Contact NACD at stewardship[at]nacdnet.org.
2018 1st Place Photos
Close Up Conservation – Adult: Karen Fenton
Washakie County CD, WY
Close Up Conservation – Youth: Eva Lee Vernon County LWCD, WI
Ag/Conservation Across America – Adult: Wayne Butler
Henricopolis SWCD, Virginia
Ag/Conservation Across America – Youth: Lainey Wriggins
New Castle CD, DE
Conservation Practices – Adult: Roxie Crouch
Northern Utah SWCD, Utah
Conservation Practices – Youth: Mackenzie Brandt
New Castle County SWCD, DE
Conservation In Action – Adult: Callie Burnett
Pittsylvania SWCD, VA
Conservation in Action – Youth: Cade Christensen
Root River SWCD, MN