Photographers have a chance to win a Friends of Anan hoodie, T-shirt or coffee mug in the nonprofit’s first-ever photo contest. Entries in the Anan Wildlife Observatory Community Photo Contest are due by midnight, Friday, July 31.

But no worry if you miss the deadline. The group will run a second photo contest next month, with a deadline of Aug. 31, and with the same prizes for first, second and third, said Andrei Bardin-Siekawitch, a member of Friends of Anan and a summer intern with the U.S. Forest Service.

Or, people can enter both contests, he said.

Friends of Anan was established a year ago to raise two things: Awareness of the bear viewing area and money to help the Forest Service, which manages the Anan Wildlife Observatory, with maintenance, staff and other expenses.

The nonprofit also assists with research into the bears.

Now that the group, and its technology team of Wrangell students, has mostly completed the technical work of setting up the livestream bear cam feeds from Anan, they want to focus more on outreach to raise awareness of the bears and the importance of the observatory, said Bardin-Siekawitch, who will be a high school senior when school starts next month.

The four bear cams installed by the students are live at the friendsofanan.org website. It’s the third year of the livestream.

Anyone who wants to enter their favorite Anan bear photos can go to the Friends of Anan Facebook page to download the QR code, which will send them to the entry form.

Photographers are limited to three entries per contest and will need to provide up to three sentences describing each photo.

The group may use the photos on its website and other promotional materials.

“If you know anyone with a camera who has been to Anan this summer, share this post with them and spread the word,” the group said in its contest announcement.

Because the Forest Service limits in-person visits at Anan to 60 people a day on guided tours during peak season, website photos and the online livestream are easily accessible tools to build up more interest and support for the bear-viewing site on the mainland about 30 air miles from Wrangell.

Around 390,000 viewers tuned to the Anan cams throughout the first season in 2024, with that number more than doubling last year to 890,000 total viewers, according to explore.org, the international nonprofit online portal that hosts the livestream on its servers.