Each month The Associated Press management honors photographers for outstanding coverage while on assignment. The winners for the December 2015 AP Staff Photo Contest are Seth Wenig in News Photography for “Salute,” David Goldman in Feature Photography for “Coal Loses its Grip,” and Juan Karita in Sports Photography for “Cholita Mountain Climbers.”

Congratulations to all the photographers for their outstanding work. This month’s winning images are featured below.

News Photography | Salute by Seth Wenig

Ryan Lemm, 4, son of Joseph Lemm, salutes as his father's casket is carried out of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015. Lemm, who was a technical sergeant in the Air Guard's 105th Base Security Squadron and a 15-year veteran of the New York Police Department, was killed when his patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Feature Photography | Coal Loses its Grip by David Goldman

Reclaimed wood sits in the foreground as Glen Wilson, 22, crawls onto the roof of the Coalfield Development Corp. for a class on installing solar panels Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, in Huntington, W.Va. The program hires graduates of high school vocational programs to restore, repurpose or tear down old buildings, use old building materials to make furniture, or build new homes on reclaimed coalfield land. Employees also are also required to take six hours of community college courses a week and three hours of life skills classes that help them with things like money management and healthy eating. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Garnet Edwards Jr. walks through the street while volunteering for a nonprofit community organization in the business district Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. "There's no place like home. We're always going to be here," said Edwards, a native of Welch. "All it takes is one person to keep caring." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Foreman John Dillon, a coal miner of 39 years, walks past piles of coal at the Sewell "R" coal mine Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Yukon, W.Va. In the U.S., where natural gas has become a cheaper alternative to coal to generate electricity, miners are facing an especially difficult market: Four major U.S. coal companies have filed for bankruptcy protection in the last 18 months. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Dennis Ferrell, a coal miner of 15 years, watches over conveyer belts carrying coal out of the Sally Ann 1 mine Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. Now employment is falling further because the world is trying to turn away from coal in hopes of protecting the environment and human health. Coal is by far the biggest source of carbon dioxide and airborne pollutants among fuels used to make electricity. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Oct. 6, 2015 photo Donnie Coleman, chief safety director and a coal miner of almost 40 years, crawls through the Sally Ann 1 underground coal mine roughly 40-inches-high in Welch, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Scottie Stinson, a coal miner of 16 years, works to secure the roof with bolts in a coal mine roughly 40-inches-high, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. The one main source for decent-paying work, the brutal life of coal, seems to be drying up for good. The thick, easy, cheap coal is gone, global competition is fierce, and clean air and water regulations are increasing costs and cutting into demand. But this crisis and the realization that there won’t be another coal boom in these parts is leading to a growing understanding that new approaches are needed to help Central Appalachia emerge from decades of deep poverty, under-education and poor health. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Scott Tiller, a coal miner of 31 years, operates a continuous miner machine in a coal mine roughly 40-inches-high, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. Most of the job losses happened long before coal’s latest downturn. Mechanization began slashing the number of workers needed to mine coal in the 1960s, and then a collapse in the U.S. steel industry in 1980s further decimated miners’ ranks. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Scott Tiller, a coal miner of 31 years, takes a break while operating a continuous miner machine in a coal mine roughly 40-inches-high, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. The seams of coal in the mine are so thin workers can barely squeeze down them. They enter on carts nearly flat on their backs, the roof of the mine coursing by just a few inches in front of their faces. They don’t stand up all day. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Superintendent Jackie Ratliff, a coal miner of 25 years, holds coal running through a processing plant Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. Central Appalachia's struggle is familiar to many rural regions across the U.S., where middle-class jobs are disappearing or gone and young people have no other choice than to leave to find opportunity. But the problems are amplified in coal country, where these difficult economic and social conditions have gripped the region for decades and where there is hardly any flat land to build anything. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A mural depicting a more vibrant time in the town's history decorates a building in the business district, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Welch, W.Va. Poverty experts say these efforts helped relieve the most acute conditions, but did little else. As coal employment declined, people fled because there was little else for them to do. McDowell County, home to Welch, had a population of just under 100,000 in 1950. Since then, the county???s population has fallen by four-fifths, to around 20,000. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The town of Welch, W.Va., in McDowell County sits nestled between the mountains Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. About the only flat land to build anything among the jumble of mountains in Southern West Virginia is in the hollows traced by small rivers, and that land sits in dangerous flood plains. This unavoidable geography has hampered efforts to diversify the economy, despite decades of effort. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Dr. Donovan “Dino” Beckett stands in the Williamson Health and Wellness Center, a clinic he started to encourage treatment of underserved populations and address the extremely high rates of diabetes patients in the county, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, in Williamson, W.Va. Central Appalachia is not out of ideas, though, and it has not given up. Grass-roots approaches like Beckett’s clinic to improve health, an apprentice program designed to give high school kids a better chance at a good job, and even a small-but-determined coal operation show how Central Appalachia may slowly begin to remake itself. “We still have a lot of diabetes patients, but now we have a lot of well-controlled diabetes patients,” Beckett said. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Sports Photography | Cholita Mountain Climbers by Juan Karita

In this Dec. 17, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women descend the Huayna Potosi mountain with their husbands, who work as professional guides, on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Eleven women, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old, made the two-day climb up the mountain. All of the women work as porters and cooks at the base camp, but six of the youngest ones would like to eventually join the ranks of the men and guide tourists to the peak. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women walk through the fog with their guide, up the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. As they climb, the women wear thermal sweat suits under their traditional "cholita" clothing. Only in the last part of the climb up to the top do the women remove their skirts, to prevent accidents. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 17, 2015 photo, the sunglasses of Aymara indigenous woman Janet Mamani Callisaya reflect the Huayna Potosi mountain as she pauses during her hike up the snowy peak on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. At first glance, indigenous Bolivian women don’t look much like mountain climbers, with their colorful, multilayered skirts and fringed shawls. But their helmets, polarized goggles and crampons attached to their shoes for climbing give them away. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women, from right, Pacesa Alana Llusco, Dora Magueno Machaca and Bertha Vetia prepare their backpacks as they prepare to hike up the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Not letting their traditional, long multi-layered skirts get in the way, they put on their mountain gear and climbed one of the highest mountains in the country. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 17, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women and their guides descend the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Some of the youngest in the group dream of climbing even higher someday, to the top of Aconcagua, which is not only the highest peak in the Andes, but also the highest mountain outside Asia. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 17, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women walk with their guide as they descend the snow capped Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Eleven Aymara women, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old, made the two-day climb up the mountain. All of the women work as porters and cooks at the base camp, but six of the youngest ones would like to eventually join the ranks of the men and guide tourists to the peak. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women enter the Campo de Roca shelter for hikers as they climb the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Domitila Alana Llusco said she had a hard time finding appropriate gear she could afford when she started 15 years ago. “My feet are small, there are no boots,” she said. “But nothing stopped me and I have reached the peak of three mountains.” (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous woman Cecilia Llusco Alana, right, follows her guide as they hike up the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. They started the last piece of their ascent after midnight to take advantage of the hardness of the snow, hoping to reach the top by dawn. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women pose for a picture as they reach the peak of the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. From left are Cecilia Llusco, Juana Rufina Llusco Alana, Janet Mamani Callisaya, Domitila Alana Llusco, Marga Alana Llusco, Virginia Quispe Colque, Pacesa Llusco Alana, Lidia Huayllas, Bertha Vetia, Dora Magueno and Ana Gonzales. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women Lidia Huayllas, right, and Bertha Vetia sit after cooking dinner for their group of 11 female "cholita" climbers inside the Campo de Roca shelter, before sleeping near the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Along with their traditional "cholita" clothing, they use helmets, polarized goggles and crampons attached to their shoes. When on duty at the base, Aymara women work as porters and cooks, earning 20 US dollars per day. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 17, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women walk with their guide down the snow capped Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. Eleven Aymara women, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old, made the two-day climb up the mountain. All of the women work as porters and cooks at the base camp, but six of the youngest ones would like to eventually join the ranks of the men and guide tourists to the peak. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this Dec. 16, 2015 photo, Aymara indigenous women look at the Huayna Potosi mountain before climbing it on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. At first glance, the women known as "cholitas" don’t look much like mountain climbers, with their colorful, multilayered skirts and fringed shawls, but they've been climbing for 15 years, cooking and carrying food for tourists who climb to the peak. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

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