Jim Allen, editor-in-chief of Cooperative Farming News, announced that Highland Home writer Ben Norman has won second place in the feature article category in their national writing contest.

Norman, who writes mostly outdoor and conservation-based articles, won the award for his feature article “Hunting Alabama Monster Alligators.”

Norman began writing outdoor articles in the early 1990s and his first article was published in the Luverne Journal.

“I remember walking into the Journal office to place a real estate ad and commented to James Morgan and Alvin Bland that they needed an outdoor column in the newspaper,” Norman said.

“One of them said, ‘then you write the article,’ and I did.  That was my first published story.”

He currently writes for several state and regional magazines.

Norman’s winning article was about alligator hunting on the Alabama River and the chase and capture of a giant 720-pound, 12-feet-4-inch alligator and the battle to bring the gator to the side of the boat.

Norman says the alligator population has increased to the point that they are becoming a problem in some areas.