Melanie Moore, a first grader in Lynn Miller’s class at South Effingham Elementary, is one of 12 elementary school children selected as statewide winners in the Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest.  Melanie is the daughter of James and Linda Moore of Rincon.

More than 4,400 kindergarten through fifth-grade students from 43 public schools, private schools and home-school groups participated in the 21st annual conservation art competition, according to the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division and The State Botanical Garden of Georgia.  Moore’s drawing, along with the other 12 winners’ artwork, will be featured in the 2011-2012 Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest school-year calendar and posted on the Wildlife Resources Division’s Flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/wildliferesourcesdivision.

Participants entered at the local school-level with drawings depicting their observations of Georgia’s native plants and animals. The 2011 contest theme was “Celebrating Georgia’s Wildlife from the Mountains to the Sea.” Drawings were judged based on aspects such as theme, originality and the quality and impact of the artwork. Top school-level entries proceeded to the state contest at The State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens.

Winning entries were displayed last month at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Go Fish Education Center in Perry. The Go Fish Education Center is designed to help visitors take an educational journey through Georgia’s watersheds to learn about our diverse aquatic wildlife, their natural habitats and the impacts of water pollution.

The poster contest is sponsored by the DNR Wildlife Resources Division, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network Inc., or TERN, friends group of the Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section.

For more information, visit www.georgiawildlife.com or www.uga.edu/botgarden, or contact the Nongame Conservation Section office in Forsyth, (478) 994-1438.