The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is launching its “75 Years Wild” photo contest encouraging people to explore the natural beauty of Florida’s Wildlife Management Area system.

Across the state, the nearly 6-million acre WMA system is conserving fish and wildlife populations and offering outdoor recreation for the public, including fishing, hunting and wildlife viewing. On the WMAs, the public also has access to nationally recognized trails for paddling, hiking and bird watching.

Join the WMAs’ 75th anniversary celebration and discover these areas’ diversity of wildlife and habitats while taking WMA photos for the 75 Years Wild photo contest. Just remember to respect wildlife by not getting too close to or disturbing birds or other animals you encounter.

The photo contest has four themes, based on the seasons. To enter, visit the FWC’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/MyFWC, look for a photo contest Facebook post and then post your photo in the Comments section. Photos also can be entered via an Instagram account by tagging #WMAzing. For those who don’t use social media, send an email to ShareVisit@MyFWC.com. The photo contest grand-prize winner will receive a GoPro camera, and other prizes will be awarded to semi-finalists.

Judging to select semi-finalists for each theme will be conducted by a panel of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission employees.

Judging of the 12 finalists will be done on Facebook by the public.

The FWC panel of judges will choose five photos for each theme as semi-finalists.

If a contestant has their photo chosen as a semi-finalist, they will be notified via Instagram (be sure your Instagram account is public) or notified with a comment on the submitted Facebook photo. Once notified, the contestant may submit their original photo to ShareVisit@MyFWC.com.

Semi-finalists will be emailed a photo permission form. If the contestant chooses to release the image for the FWC to use, the contestant will return that signed release form allowing the FWC to use the photo. Contestants who do not return their signed permission form(s) to the FWC within seven (7) days of being notified as a semi-finalist will forfeit their chance to be included in the final vote and will be ineligible to win prizes.

The FWC will review all photos for eligibility. Photos will be ineligible if they infringe upon another person’s copyright, contain inappropriate content or involve disturbing wildlife or damaging to the environment.

For complete WMA photo contest rules, go to MyFWC.com/WMA 75. There you also will find more on the WMA 75th anniversary celebration, including the calendar of upcoming events and “how to find a WMA near you.”