Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Snappy Sport Senter of Kalispell and Flathead Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, are sponsoring a regional competition for the national State-Fish Art Contest. The contest is open to all students in grades 4 through 12. The artwork will focus on cutthroat trout, the Montana state fish. Cutthroats were chosen as the state fish in 1977 in a poll of over 200,000 Montanans. Cutthroats are a symbol of clean, cold water and healthy aquatic habitat, part of Montana’s natural heritage.

All entries must meet four criteria: all artwork must be on a 8 1/2” x 11” horizontal format with no lettering or initials on the face of the artwork, and the artwork must be accompanied by an official entry form and a one-page composition on cutthroat trout with the student’s name and address on it. Entries that don’t meet those criteria will be disqualified from the national contest.

Official entry forms, contest rules, and cutthroat information are available on the website www.statefishart.com or copies can be requested from the Kalispell Fish, Wildlife & Parks office. An Educator’s Corner is also available on the website for teachers that want to incorporate this project into the classroom.

All entries must be turned in Kalispell Fish, Wildlife & Parks by 5 p.m., Monday, March 19. All the entries will be displayed at Snappy Sport Senter and judged by a team of local wildlife artists. Entries will then be forwarded to the national contest sponsored by Wildlife Forever. Entries will be grouped by classes 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Older students are particularly encouraged to enter. The top three artists in each category will receive gift certificates for $75, $50, and $25. Winning artwork can be viewed on The State-Fish Art website. Last year Troy, Kimberly and Matthew Belleville of Kalispell won all 3 National awards and attended the 2007 National Expo in Minnesota.

For more information, call Jim Vashro, 751-4550.