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Pick your favorite park for recreation activities in the 2017 Gold Seal Contest

Contact(s): Patty Loosen Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Coordinator, 608-294-0810 or patricia.loosen@fwsp.org

MADISON - It may be the peak of summer, but people have an opportunity to vote for their favorite Wisconsin State Park system property for winter recreation. That is one of the 10 categories in the 2017 Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Gold Seal Award contest.

It may be the peak of summer, but people have an opportunity to vote for their favorite park for winter recreation in the 2017 Gold Seal Contest.
Photo Credit: DNR

The Friends of Wisconsin State Parks is the umbrella organization for the more than 80 local friends groups organizations organized to provide support for state park system properties. The organization's mission is preserving, promoting, protecting, and enhancing Wisconsin state parks, forests, trails and recreation areas. The organization runs the Gold Seal Award program each year to highlight Wisconsin's parks, trails, and forests.

"If you are a cross-country skier, camper, biker, hiker, angler, or park visitor, cast your vote for your favorite state park, forest, or trail in one of our new categories," said Patty Loosen, state park friends coordinator.

The contest ends on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 and the winning parks, forests, trails, or recreational areas will be honored with a Gold Seal Award at the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017.

The 2017 categories are:

• Best state park system property for winter recreating
• Best state park system property for a short hike with children
• Best state park system property for trail to ride horses with a group
• Most scenic state park system picnic area
• Best state park system office flower garden
• Best state park system property for star gazing
• Best state park fishing pier
• Best state park system property to take nature photos
• Best state park family beach area
• Best view of the sunrise in a state park system campground.

Still time to enter Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Calendar photo contest

People have until August 31, 2017 to enter their favorite photographs from a Wisconsin state park, forest, trail or recreation areas in a contest with winning photos to be included in the 2018 Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Calendar. Photos are needed from all four seasons in state parks, forests, trails and recreation areas.

Again in 2018, in addition to being available for purchase, the calendar will be distributed to more than 85,000 subscribers of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine in the December 2017 issue.

A winning entry in the 2017 calendar - Big Bay State Park, Photo by Michael Knapstein
Photo Credit: Michael Knapstein

Submissions are only accepted from amateur photographers ages 14 and over. Professional photographers who earn more than half of their income taking pictures are not eligible. Employees of the DNR and board members of the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks and their immediate family members are not eligible to win. Photographs must have been shot within the past three years (since Jan. 1, 2015) and no more than four photos may be entered.

More information and details on entering both contests and rules are available on the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks website [http://friendswiparks.blogspot.com] by clicking on the tab for "Gold Seal Contest" and "photo contest."

For more information about Wisconsin State Park System properties, search the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, dnr.wi.gov, for keyword "parks."