Yukon Fish & Game Association’s Summer Photo Contest
Brandon Crawford – YFGA Wildlife Resource Manager
The COVID-19 Pandemic has undoubtedly impacted everyone in some way, shape or form. This summer, much of our organization’s annual outreach events were cancelled, leaving an empty gap in public engagement. After brainstorming with our staff from the Whitehorse Fishladder, we decided to offer a photo contest to all Yukoners as a way of encouraging folks to get out and enjoy the midnight sun.
YFGA partnered with other local environmental NGOs: CPAWS Yukon, Yukon Conservation Society and the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. Although each group has a slightly different mandate, we each aim to engage Yukoners with the natural world and conservation. Once our partners were confirmed, our next step was to gather support from local businesses in the form of donations.
We reached out and received donations from 14 locally owned and operated businesses who helped us create some amazing prize packs. Our final step was to outline a social media marketing campaign and garner submissions. The contest had two categories each with two streams. The first was an outdoor recreation category which included hiking/camping/water sports and the second a wildlife/wildflower category. Within each category was a youth stream for kids 17 and under followed by an adult category 18+. Contestants could submit photos into either category but could only win in one. They were asked to include their name, the category and a brief blurb about the photo. At first, entries were slow as we were limited to advertising on our Facebook & Instagram channels. We encouraged our partners to share our posters and ads on their channels as well. In order to boost our coverage, we contacted CHON FM, a local indigenous run radio station. They drafted and ran a radio ad for us during the final week of the contest. Throughout the end of June to the first week of August we received some 50+ submissions, each with their own unique story of summer adventures in the Yukon.
Our winners were announced the week of August 7th and I will share the winning photos below! Our prize packs featured a variety of outdoor gear, gift certificates and vouchers for local eateries and clothing from local vendors.
On behalf of YFGA I would like to thank both our contestants and our lovely list of sponsors:
Coast Mountain Sports
Yukon Brewing
Winterlong Brewing
The Chocolate Claim
Baked Café
Up North Adventures
Lumel Studios
Triniti Technology
Paradise Alley Gifts
Superior Roofing
Sanchez Cantina
Angelina’s Toy Boutique
Yukon Built.
Here are our winning photos:
Dall Sheep horn while hiking Slims River Trail by Alex Therriault – Adult Outdoor Rec Winner
Sharp-tailed Grouse mating display in Kluane Area by Sonny Parker – Adult Wildlife Winner
Horse packing along the Haines Road by Hannah Welsh – Youth Outdoor Rec Winner
Twitchy the squirrel at Pine Lake Campground by Lilja Reid – Winner Youth Wildlife
