![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Swiftcurrent-Falls-on-a-Smokey-Morning_-by-Xavier-Spring-771x514.jpg\")
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Xavier Springer’s photo, \u201cSwiftcurrent Falls on a Smoky Morning” (above), taken during a bright orange sunrise in Glacier National Park, has been chosen as the grand-prize winner of the Montana Wilderness Association’s 2017 photo contest.<\/p>\n
Springer, of Great Falls, was among photographers who submitted more 1,000 entries in the association’s ninth annual contest.<\/p>\n
Judge Luke Duran, art director at Montana Outdoors Magazine, sifted through all those entries and selected a first-, second-, and third-place winner in the photo category.<\/p>\n
Grant Golden of Libby won second place for the lush \u201cWest Fork of Yaak Falls\u201d:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/West-Fork-Yaak-Falls_-by-Grant-Golden-771x512.jpg\")
<\/a>The third-place photo was\u00a0\u201cSullivan\u2019s Knob Trail,\u201d taken in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in south-central Montana by Kelly Wicks, of Glendive:<\/p>\n
Second place went to Bozeman\u2019s Nick Garner, whose \u201cKeep it Wild<\/a>\u201d film beautifully highlighted the rugged solitude of Montana\u2019s wild places. In third place, Livingston\u2019s Sam Saarel narrated \u201cOur Beautiful Montana<\/a>,\u201d a tribute to Montana\u2019s wild past, present and future.<\/p>\n First-place winners in both contests received a $500 prize. Second-place winners received a $250 gift card from the association’s partners at Kuhl, while third-place winners received a $100 gift card from Patagonia.<\/p>\n All winners also received a membership to Montana Wilderness Association. The details of the 2018 Picture Wild Montana contest will be announced later this year.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sullivans-Knob-Trail_-by-Kelly-Wicks-771x514.jpg\")
<\/a>Eighteen videos were also submitted, and MWA stewardship director Matt Bowser did the judging on those. The grand prize was claimed by Colin Ruggiero of Missoula, whose time-lapse film \u201cMontana<\/a>\u201d showcased the beauty of our state\u2019s majestic landscapes.<\/p>\n
![\"CapreAir_Variable\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/201703_capeair_variable.jpg\")
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