The 12th Annual statewide Wisconsin Envirothon takes place today, Friday, April 30 at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station in Amherst Junction, Wisconsin from 8 am to 4 pm.
Founded in 1998, Wisconsin Envirothon is a combined effort of natural resource professionals and educators to provide hands-on, outdoor coaching and testing on topical conservation issues. In turn, Wisconsin Envirothon gives young citizens the tools to provide leadership for a more sustainable and environmentally aware community.
Ten student teams from Appleton West High School, Conserve School (Land O’ Lakes), James Madison Memorial High School (Madison), Luxemburg-Casco High School, Middleton High School, and Newman Catholic High School (Wausau) will be in attendance.
The theme for this year’s Wisconsin Envirothon is Groundwater Protection through Urban, Agricultural and Environmental Planning. Event categories include examinations in Forestry, Soils and Land Use, Aquatic Ecology, Wildlife, and an Oral Presentation where students will act as a village planning commission charged with implementing a management plan for the quality and quantity of water resources available to a village faced with new developments in the area within their local watershed.
The winning team from the 2010 Wisconsin Envirothon will be eligible to compete in the week-long North American Canon Envirothon competition, held this year August 1-6 at California State University in Fresno. Information about the Canon Envirothon can be found on the Web at www.envirothon.org.
Julian Zelazny, Executive Director at Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association, states “We’re delighted to provide a forum for these young people to learn about their environment and to wrestle with some of the more vexing conservation issues of our time.”
The 2010 Wisconsin Envirothon is possible due to the partnership and sponsorship of the Wisconsin Energy Foundation, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and the Dairy Farm Families of Wisconsin, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Wisconsin Association of Land Conservation Employees, the University of Wisconsin-Center for Watershed Science and Education, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Canon Envirothon, Bradshaw-Knight Foundation and more. Visit www.wlwca.org for a complete listing of all the 2010 Wisconsin Envirothon sponsors.
For schools, teams, volunteers or sponsors interested in more information about how to participate in the 2011 Wisconsin Envirothon on April 22 at the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt, contact Kirsten Moore at the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association by email at kirsten@wlwca.org.
The Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association is the umbrella organization serving county land conservation committees and departments to protect and conserve Wisconsin’s natural resources. Those committees and departments are charged under state law with implementing programs to prevent polluted runoff from entering our streams and lakes as well as to control soil erosion. The land conservation committees, and their statewide association, provide a unique and leading voice for implementation of land and water conservation programs.
