None The Nature Conservancy in Texas Press Releases Search All Press Releases Sam Mason, Executive Director (956) 381-1264, icfprotour@aol.com

Hill Country landowners could win cash in photo contest

Wildlife habitat sought as backdrop for renowned nature photographers

San Antonio, Texas—November 5, 2004—Landowners with at least 500 acres of wildlife habitat in any of 19 counties in the Texas Hill Country are invited to apply for participation in the inaugural Pro-Tour of Nature Photography. The championship event will pair 20 renowned nature photographers from North America and Europe with 20 private landowners in the Texas Hill Country to compete for a share of up to $200,000 in cash.

"This is the first all-professional tournament of nature photography in the world," said John F. Martin, who founded Images for Conservation Fund to produce the event. "We created ICF and the Pro-Tour of Nature Photography to foster nature-photography tourism as a long-term income producer for private landowners and rural economies. Through this industry, nature photographers help to protect the wildlife of North America. Conservation and enhancement of wildlife habitat is the ultimate goal of the Pro-Tour."

Martin, who lives near Edinburg, Texas, is a longtime conservationist and co-founder of the Valley Land Fund, a non-profit land trust in the Rio Grande Valley that has produced its biennial Wildlife Photo Contests since 1994.

The Nature Conservancy has joined with the Images for Conservation Fund to support the Pro-Tour of  Nature Photography as an advisor and to serve as a liaison between contest organizers and landowners.

The Pro-Tour of Nature Photography seeks landowners with a minimum of 500 acres of contiguous wildlife habitat partially or wholly in any of the following 19 counties: Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Llano, Mason, Medina, Real, Travis, Uvalde and Williamson.

Each professional nature photographer will be randomly matched with a participating landowner, and the 20 Photographer-Landowner teams will compete to produce the best images possible during the official tournament period, April 1-30, 2005.

Each of the 20 Photographer-Landowner teams will submit a 75-image portfolio to be judged by Rosamund Kidman Cox, longtime editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine; Stephen B. Freligh, publisher and editor-in-chief of Nature’s Best Magazine; and world-famous nature photographer Art Wolfe. Winning portfolios will be featured in a glossy coffee-table book and an exhibit that will travel to museums and major sponsor locations.

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Photo Marketing Association International, there are approximately 26 million Americans who photograph wildlife every year. "Through the Pro-Tour of Nature Photography, Images for Conservation Fund intends to help create a booming industry where private landowners lease top-quality wildlife photo settings on their land for a significant new stream of income," Martin said. 

The first Pro-Tour of Nature Photography competition will take place in the Texas Hill Country in April 2006 in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. Future Pro-Tour competitions will feature other beautiful and biologically diverse regions of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Images for Conservation Fund also offers memberships and Pro-Tour sponsorship opportunities for corporations, foundations and individuals. Call Sam Mason or John F. Martin at (956) 381-1264 or visit www.imagesforconservation.org.

The Pro-Tour of Nature Photography
Images for Conservation Fund
2112 West University Drive #801
Edinburg, Texas 78539