NPS Passport Photo Contest Winners Named

The winners of the photo context for the 2009 NPS passport, released last Friday, have been announced.

Eastern National and the National Park Service first introduced the passport program in 1986. The Passport To Your National Parks® book is a 104-page booklet designed to be a travel companion for park visitors. The pocket-sized guide contains full color maps and photographs, a national park list, and interesting facts about America’s national parks. The Passport Explorer Edition introduced in 2006 has 170 pages and features a sturdy weatherproof portfolio with a durable inside binder and lots of pockets for national park collectibles and personal items. National park visitors can collect annual  commemorative stamps and rubber-stamp ink cancellations inside both passport books.

Each year, Eastern National holds a contest for NPS employees and volunteers to select ten images – one national and nine regional – for the collectible passport commemorative stamp set. The stamps are distributed on a single perforated sheet and can be detached and placed in designated sections of the passport books.

The 2009 passport photo contest winners are:

National Stamp: Photo by Bertha Schmalfeldt – Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site: The Memorial Building was the first monument to honor Abraham Lincoln. It was designed by John Russell Pope and funded by the Lincoln Farm Association to celebrate the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. It stands on the spot where he was born and houses the symbolic birth cabin. President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the cornerstone February 12, 1909. The building was completed in 1910 and dedicated by President William Howard Taft. The site was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1933.

North Atlantic Region: Photo by John Harlan Warren – Gateway National Recreation Area: Battery Weed, strategically located at the entrance to New York Harbor known as the “Narrows,” played a significant role in 19th-century coastal defense. Capable of mounting 116 cannon, this massive fortification deterred enemy attacks on New York City throughout the Civil War.

Mid-Atlantic Region: Photo by John E. Donohue – Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates the Civil War battles fought around the capital of the Confederacy. Union forces occupied the city on April 3, 1865, just one day after its evacuation by the Confederate government and one day before the visit by President Lincoln and his son, Tad.

National Capital Region: Photo by John E. Donohue – District of Columbia War Memorial: A circular, Doric bandstand, the memorial honors the World War I heroes of Washington, D.C. President Herbert Hoover dedicated the memorial on Armistice Day, November 11, 1931, in the presence of General John J. Pershing, John Philip Sousa, and war veterans.

Southeast Region: Photo by Becky Woldt – Congaree National Park preserves a giant forest of old-growth trees and diverse plant and animal life in a wilderness environment. Forested wetlands, oxbow lakes, and slow moving creeks provide ample wildlife habitat. Visitors can enjoy and experience the tranquility of nature within this dynamic floodplain forest.

Midwest Region: Photo by Bob Daum – Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial preserves the site of the farm where Abraham Lincoln spent 14 formative years of his life, from the ages of seven to 21. He and  his family moved to Indiana in 1816 and stayed until 1830 when they moved to Illinois. The nation celebrates the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009.

Southwest Region: Photo by Tracy A. Parris – Padre Island National Seashore: Located along the south Texas coast, the national seashore protects the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. It embraces 70 miles of sand-and-shell beaches, picturesque wind-swept dunes, seemingly endless grasslands, and tidal flats teeming with life.

Rocky Mountain Region: Photo by Carol Stevenson – Fort Laramie National Historic Site - Established as a private fur trading post in 1834, the fort was sold to the military in 1849. Located at the crossroads of the west, this “grand old post” witnessed the saga of America’s western expansion until its abandonment in 1890.

Western Region: Photo by Rebecca A. Wiles – Haleakala National Park: Dramatic views change as quickly as the weather in this park that runs from sea level to 10,023 feet. Isolation, elevation, and volcanic landscapes create unique biota in habitats from rain forest to alpine desert. The park protects endangered species and cultural sites.

Pacific Northwest and Alaska Region: Photo by Richard Maxwell – Oregon Caves National Monument celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2009. The drip, drip, drip of water decorates these caves with calcite deposits. Eerie flowstones glisten like melted ice cream. Soda straws cling to the ceiling. This is a unique place, a world of rock created by water.