Copyright © John A. Vucetich — All rights reserved
first-place art
Second-place art
first-place essay
2nd and 3rd place essays
Entries were judged by: George Desort (film maker and graphic artist), Evan McDonald (Keweenaw Land Trust), Joseph Kaplan & Keren Tischler (Isle Royale loon biologists), Linda Nagel (forest ecologist), Leah Vucetich, John Vucetich, Rolf Peterson.
“I am fascinated by the complexity of nature. There is intricacy in the detailed physical characteristics of organisms, as well, as intricacy in how these organisms interact with each other. This drawing shows my appreciation for the detailed beauty in nature. Why would we want to destroy something so wonderful? Recognizing this value is the first step in doing our part in this word to help preserve it. (Learning is a second step.) We must first have an attachment to something before we feel any duty to protect it.”
Patty Doyle,
West Ottawa High School
Holland, Michigan
My watercolor painting is based on a photograph by Jim Brandenburg. I found the photo from a book about wolves called “Wolf, the Spirit of the Wild,” edited by Diana Landau and forward by Douglas H. Chadwick.”
Felix Estay-Foix
Carlsbad, CA
Lullaby of the night
by Holly McDaniel, Knox, PA
The sweetest lullaby is sung to the breaking red moon
Hypnotizing everything its icy shadow touches
The wind whispers secrets
Of a pack’s next move
They go in for the kill
One step away
And each role is played
As the wintry flakes fall
The dangerous dance begins
To the music of the frosted night
One mistake could mean the end
Of your fiery might
The moose tries hard not to play prey
Beaten down like a desert’s sun
On a hot day
Its breath in smoke
It can’t stand it any longer
It gives itself up
Because it’s kill or be killed
In the obis of the wild
Strange as it is
This unique bond
One couldn’t live without the other
Or all would be lost
Two pieces of art ranked third-place art
My picture represents the relationship between the wolves and moose of Isle Royale. The moose is in the center of the drawing to represent how essential its being is to the wolves. The wolves are on the outside of the picture to show how the moose revolves around their lives. The large circle in the drawing represents the worlds of both the moose and wolf and how each needs the other to survive.
Shiliah Van Epps
Keystone Jr/Sr High School
Knox, PA