GATLINBURG, TN - Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that Volunteer-in-Park Robert Burton was recently selected as the grand prize winner of the Department of the Interior’s 2018 Share the Experience employee photography contest. Burton captured the winning image of a pipevine swallowtail butterfly on a turk’s cap lily near Collins Gap along Clingmans Dome Road.

Robert Burton, Volunteer-in-Park; image submitted

Burton, of Schertz, TX, has been volunteering the park’s Backcountry Office since 2016. His winning photo was selected from 804 entries for its exemplary photographic qualities and showcasing of our public lands.

“I think the photos is representative of the vast beauty of the park," said Volunteer Robert Burton. “I feel honored and privileged to represent Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

A copy of Burton’s winning photo is displayed in Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, TN. A second cvopy of the photo will be on permanent display in a conference room in the Department of Interior Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The contest is open to all employees and volunteers the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, National Archives, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation. For more information about the contest, please visit employees.sharetheexperience.org/spotlights.