USDA Rocky Mount Service Center *1297 State Street* Rocky Mount* VA 24151 or call at (540) 352-3312 and visit us at www.brswcd.org Please direct your FOIA request for public records and who will oversee the public body's compliance with the provisions of section 2.2-3704.2.C to Kathy B. Smith, Program Manager/Education Coordinator at ksmith@brswcd.org The District Board meets on the fourth Monday of each month in Rocky Mount, Virginia at 5:00 p.m. Meetings are open to the public. However, due to COVID-19 it is not possible to accommodate the general public and maintain social distancing. Contact the District Office to find out the location of the next meeting. We appreciate your patience during this pandemic. Contact the District Office to find out the location of the next meeting.
Blue Ridge PRISM is pleased to participate in
the largest invasive species awareness effort in North America. We aim to
focus our outreach encouraging you to choose plants
native to Virginia, and not invasive plants for your
landscaping this spring.
There are also a number of webinars hosted by NISAW which are free and open to
all:
The VASWCD is committed to conservation of natural resources through stewardship and education programs and we want to see it through your eyes. the theme this year is “Conservation through the local lens”. Capture those vibrant moments and express what conservation looks like through your lens! The contest is open from February 1 – July 30, 2021. To learn more about the contest please click here Rules & Judging. You can submit up to 10 photos and to do so you click on the submit your photos button below. All photographs must be taken within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Photographs taken outside the state of Virginia will be disqualified.
Congratulations to Bob Diller for his 2020 photo named “Behold!” taken in the Tidewater Shore Soil & Water Conservation District that was chosen as overall winner for the 2020 Photo Contest.
2020 VASWCD Photo Contest Winners
Congratulations to Bob Diller for his 2020 photo named “Behold!” taken in the Tidewater Shore Soil & Water Conservation District that was chosen as overall winner for the 2020 Photo Contest.
Eligibility
The Virginia Association of Soil
& Water Conservation Districts (VASWCD) Photo Contest is open only to legal
residents of the United States. Panel Judges (of the VASWCD Photo Contest), as
well as immediate family (spouse partners, siblings, and children) and
household members of those judges, are not eligible to enter.
Entry Period
The VASWCD Photo Contest begins
February 1, 2021 and ends on July 30, 2021. Entries submitted before or after
the entry period will not be eligible. Winners will be announced September 2021.
What to Enter
The VASWCD is committed to
conservation of natural resources through stewardship and education programs
and we want to see it through your eyes. For our 2021 Photo Contest, we’d like
you to take photos that showcase” Conservation Through the Local Lens”.
Capture those vibrant moments and express what conservation looks like to you!
All photographs must be taken
within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Photographs taken outside the state of
Virginia will be disqualified.
Entries should include the
following information.
Name
Age (as of July 30, 2021)
Address
Email
Telephone
Photo Title
City or County where photo was taken
Caption that describes photo and answers “Conservation Through the
Local Lens” (Limit to one paragraph)
By submitting your entry, you
(parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence)
agree that the photograph(s) conforms to the guidelines and content restrictions.
By entering, entrants
(parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence)
represent and warrant that the photograph(s) that they submit: are their own
original creations; do not infringe any other person’s or entity’s rights;
including trespassing on private land.
Entries must be submitted by the
original creator. Photograph(s) created by someone other than you but submitted
by you will be disqualified. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any
photograph(s) submitted. Incomplete entries will not be accepted and will be
automatically rejected.
To ensure eligibility for the
contest, please submit files at least 3 MB at the time of entry. Higher
resolution files of at least 300 dpi/ppi will be requested should an entry be
preselected to be awarded a prize or an honorable mention. All photographs
should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared.
Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (red eye
removal, removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color
and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified, which is left to the Panel’s
discretion.
Entries may originate in any
format — including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color
transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints — so long as they are
submitted electronically in a .JPEG .jpg, or.png form. Multiple exposures that
have been combined to produce a single “High Dynamic Range” image are
acceptable.
Previously published material for
which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still
maintain the right to grant us a license (see “Your Rights” below).
You must be able to disclose when and where the photo appeared previously to
VASWCD upon request.
If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible
for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted, and must be
able to provide copies of those releases to VASWCD upon request.
The following submissions are
ineligible:
Images of captive animals photographed in zoos and commercial game farms.
Photos that violate or infringe upon another person’s rights, including
but not limited to copyright.
Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent, or other
objectionable or inappropriate content.
Images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife, or damage to the environment by the photographer or
photo subjects.
Images that involve putting any individual or animal in danger.
Images taken more than three years prior to the beginning date of the Contest (February 1, 2021).
The VASWCD shall determine entry
eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion.
How to Enter
You may enter up to ten (10)
images during the entry period, however only one winning photo per person. The
VASWCD reserves the right to reject any additional entries or entries that do
not comply with these Official Rules. By entering, you indicate your
unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Rules and
VASWCD’s decisions, which are final and binding. You cannot win a prize unless
you comply with all requirements in these Official Rules.
Entrants may be asked to
supplement their submission (such as with a paragraph about their photo or the
highest resolution version of their photo).
Judging
Photos will be judged on
originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, artistic merit
and subject matter relevance to conservation, except that the People’s Choice
award will be determined based on which of the honorable mentions receives the
most votes. Judging will be conducted by a panel of VASWCD and or SWCD
employees/officials (the “Panel”). The Panel will evaluate all valid entries
and pick winners in the following categories:
Categories:
Overall Winner (1 winner): Illustrates how people interact
with their environment and care for the natural
resources around them.
People’s Choice (1 winner): Overall winner selected from among the 10 honorable mentions based on the highest
number of votes received during public voting to be held on the VASWCD Facebook
page in August 2020.
Young Photographer (1 winner): Best vibrant moment of conservation, taken by a photographer under 18 years of age.
The honorable mentions will be
notified and will appear on the VASWCD website. At that time, the public can
vote for one People’s Choice winner from the honorable mentions. All potential
winners will be revealed online by September 30, 2021.
All judging decisions are final.
Please do not contact us about the status of entries or judging. The VASWCD
will notify the winner via the contact information provided at the time of
entry.
Disqualification
No alteration or manipulation of
photographs is permitted except for standard optimization (red eye removal,
removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color and
contrast, etc.). However, photographic techniques such as HDR, light-painting
and long exposures are allowed. Photographs with watermarks, writing or symbols
of any kind will be rejected.
Photograph(s) depicting anything
that does not adhere to the rules of the VASWCD Photo Contest, contain unsafe
acts, present resource or public use management concerns or photographs that
are inappropriate, indecent or obscene, as determined by VASWCD in their sole
discretion, shall be disqualified.
Potential Winner Requirements
Except where prohibited, a
potential winner may be required to complete and return an affidavit of
eligibility, including proof of age, and liability/publicity release within 14
days. If a potential winner is a minor, his/her parent or legal guardian will
be required to sign the documents on his/her behalf. If a potential winner
fails to return these documents on time, an alternate potential winner may be
selected in his/her place.
Prizes
Prizes will be determined by the
VASWCD. A prize may not be transferred and must be accepted as awarded. A winner
may not request cash or a substitute prize.
Your Rights
You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit — including joint
ownership with the VASWCD and participating districts.
If you submit a photograph to
enter the Photo Contest, you grant the VASWCD a royalty-free, nonexclusive
right during the Photo Contest and in perpetuity to:
Display the photograph on the Photo Contest submission website
Allow third-parties to share the photograph on the following social
media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and district websites.
Use the photograph on the Internet and in Social Media in support of
our mission.
Use the photograph in the VASWCD’s internal and external communications
materials including but not limited
to web sites and web publications, fact sheets,
fund raising publications, advertising, multimedia, presentation, annual report
and VASWCD District Directory.
Provide your photograph to other individuals and organizations for
VASWCD- related use in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows,
displays, web pages, videos, and the like.
Use, in connection with the Photo Contest, your name, city, and state
of residence in promotions and
other publications.
o Retain
a digital copy of your photograph that will be archived in the VASWCD photo
library and accessible to VASWCD & SWCD staff. The VASWCD will endeavor to credit all photographs with the
caption “Person’s Name” when the full name is available.
By entering, entrants
(parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence)
grant a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to the VASWCD
to edit, adapt, make derivative works from, broadcast, publish and otherwise
use any or all of the descriptions and/or photograph(s) submitted, and may use them for advertising, promotional and/or any
other purpose in any and all media now or hereafter devised worldwide in
perpetuity without additional compensation, notification or permission, unless
prohibited by law. By entering this Contest, entrants (parent/legal guardian if
entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence) agree to have their submitted
photograph(s) used and displayed, either singularly or in combination with
others and in any size, on the official VASWCD website and social media
platforms and on the websites, social media, and print materials of the VASWCD
as well as their SWCDs without any fee or other form of compensation due at any
time for so long as desired by the VASWCD. Credits, descriptions or titles, if
any, used with the photograph(s) are in the VASWCD’s sole discretion. In the
event that ownership of any photograph(s) submitted is challenged in any manner
by any person, the VASWCD may disqualify that photograph(s) and will
discontinue use of the photograph(s).
General Conditions
In the event that the operation,
security, or administration of the Photo Contest is impaired in any way, VASWCD
may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Photo Contest to address
the impairment and then resume the Photo Contest; or (b) award the prize(s)
from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment.
VASWCD reserves the right, in its
sole discretion, to disqualify and seek damages from any individual who tampers
with the operation of the Photo Contest, violates these Official Rules, or acts
in a disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner. VASWCD’s failure to enforce any term
of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Proof
of sending any communication to VASWCD by mail shall not be deemed proof of
receipt of that communication by VASWCD. In the event of a dispute as to the
owner of an online entry, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address
used to enter will be deemed to be
the owner. The Photo Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and
regulations and is void where prohibited.
Release and Limitations of Liability
By entering, you (parent/legal
guardian if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence) agree to release
and hold harmless VASWCD, Facebook, their respective parent, subsidiaries,
affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, and
SWCD agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of
action arising out of participation in the Photo Contest or receipt or use of
any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention
in the Photo Contest; (b) technical errors; (c) printing errors; (d) late or
undelivered mail; (e) errors in the administration of the Photo Contest; or (f)
injury or damage to persons or property. You waive the right to claim any
attorney’s fees and any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to,
punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.
Privacy and Publicity
Any information you submit as part
of the Photo Contest will be used in accordance with VASWCD’s Privacy Policy.
The information you provide when you enter is provided to the VASWCD. Except
where prohibited, you consent to VASWCD’s use of your name in any list of
winners (if applicable) and for promotional purposes in any media without
further payment or consideration.
Disputes
You agree that any and all
disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the
Photo Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without
resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court
located in Virginia. All issues and questions concerning the construction,
validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, your
rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the VASWCD
in connection with the Photo
Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in
accordance with, the laws of Virginia, without giving effect to any choice of
law or conflict of law rules (whether of Virginia or any other jurisdiction),
which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than Virginia.
