Decorah Team Wins 14th Iowa Envirothon

April 21, 2009

Guthrie Center, Iowa – Decorah Teddy Arctos, a group of Decorah High School students, won the 14^th annual Iowa Envirothon contest held Monday, April 20, at Springbrook State Park.

Three teams dominated this year’s competition, as Teddy Arctos from Decorah narrowly defeated North Polk FFA (2^nd place) and last year’s winner, Marshalltown (3^rd place). Decorah won or tied for first place in two of the five events.

Decorah Teddy Arctos will now compete at the national competition, the Canon Envirothon, held August 2-8 at the University of North Carolina in Ashville, NC.

The Envirothon tested students’ knowledge in the areas of aquatic ecology, forestry, soils, and wildlife at stations throughout Springbrook’s Conservation Education Center. Each team also gave an oral presentation on “Biodiversity in a Changing World.” North Polk FFA and Marshalltown tied for first place in the oral presentation, with Decorah Teddy Arctos just one point behind. The oral presentation counts for 60 percent of a team’s overall score.

In other individual categories, Ar-We-Va (Westside) and Decorah tied for first place in aquatics; Decorah won the forestry competition; Maquoketa FFA took first place in soils; and North Polk FFA won in wildlife.

The Envirothon is North America’s largest high school environmental competition. The goals of the contest are to increase students’ knowledge and awareness of the interrelationship of our natural resources; promote environmental awareness and stewardship; develop students’ critical thinking, cooperative problem solving and decision-making skills; present balanced options for management of natural resources; and provide awareness of and accessibility to resource organizations offering assistance in environmental issues.

The Iowa Envirothon is a program of the Conservation Districts of Iowa in cooperation with: Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa FFA Association, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship-Division of Soil Conservation, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Iowa Agren Inc., Iowa Griggs Environmental Strategies, Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Iowa State University, Canon USA, Inc., and many local soil and water conservation districts.

For full results of the 2009 Iowa Envirothon, please visit www.cdiowa.org/ENVIROstate.html. 

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Contact:
Deb Ryun, Conservation Districts of Iowa
Phone: 641-774-4461, e-mail: envirothon@cdiowa.org

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