Amador County – The California Department of Fish & Game announced recently that it will hold its first youth film contest in its North Central Region, which includes Amador County, to promote its “Bear Aware Campaign.”
Fish & Game’s Carol Singleton said “black bears in the Lake Tahoe area are in trouble. Human carelessness with food and garbage is attracting bears to populated areas and putting them at risk.”
To combat the problem, Fish & Game “is seeking young filmmakers to produce a 90-second public service announcement that explains what can be done to keep Tahoe bears wild.”
“Bear Aware Messages,” listed in contest rules and guidelines, must be included in the film. Singleton said films “should educate visitors and residents of the Lake Tahoe Basin about the importance of keeping black bears in the wild, and what residents and visitors can do to help ensure that black bears do not become habituated.” They should help to “keep black bears in the wild and away from human temptations such as human food and garbage.”
Entries may focus either on messages targeted to residents of the Lake Tahoe region (part-time or permanent) or toward campers and daily visitors to the region.
Singleton said Fish & Game “discourages filmmakers from attempting to obtain their own footage of black bears. Instead, filmmakers should use footage provided by DFG,” non-copyrighted footage from the public domain, or “footage previously captured which the filmmaker has permission to use.”
Each entrant must be a high school student in grade 9-12 living in the Fish & Game North Central Region as of the entry deadline. The region covers 16 counties, including Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties.
The top three prizes are $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place. Singleton said the “first-place winner will also have the opportunity to participate in a rehabilitated bear cub release.”
Fish & Game will also post its top five short film selections to its Bear Aware website for voters to select the People’s Choice Award, whose winner will receive a $100 gift card from REI.
Deadline for submission is January 31, 2012.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
