Envirothon: Largest natural resource competition for high schoolers nears
Why should those of us who live and farm in Yuma County care about the land in the rest of Arizona? Does it make a difference to agriculture in Yuma to know how much of the land in Arizona is state land, public land or tribal lands? Do you believe that what happens on Arizona rangeland is important to us?
All these are questions that could be discussed in the 2018 Arizona Envirothon. What is an Envirothon you ask? Arizona’s Envirothon is modeled after the North American Envirothon, North America’s largest natural resource competition for high school students. Arizona’s competition is open to all high schools within the state, including charter schools (grades 9-12).
Interested students form a five-member team, study and learn about our natural resources and then compete for the opportunity to win significant prizes and represent Arizona at the annual North American Envirothon.
Students and their coaches prepare for the competition with assistance from natural resource professionals. The 2018 theme is “Western Rangeland Management.” While the land we are familiar with is primarily farmland, the watershed, or source of water, to the Colorado River is primarily rangelands. How those rangelands are managed or not managed can significantly affect the amount of water from winter snows that make it to the Colorado.
Complicating the man- agement of the rangelands is the varied ownership of the land in the state of Arizona. Within the state, only 34 percent of land is privately owned. 68 percent of the land is owned by the federal government and overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, military, tribal entities or the Arizona State Land Department. In Yuma County, only 7 percent of the land is private.
Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders and none today can question the importance and benefits of environmental stewardship. The Envirothon helps students to develop the critical thinking skills that are necessary to manage and conserve natural resources in a sustainable manner, always mindful of economic, social and environmental concerns. Students and their coaches prepare for the competition with the assistance from natural resource professionals.
The major areas of study include aquatic ecology, soils and land use, wildlife, forestry and a current environmental theme that changes yearly. Students must learn about each topic area and more importantly understand that these resources are not isolated subjects, but rather interact within a given ecosystem.
There are two major components to the Envirothon competition — testing and oral presentation. The testing portion of the competition occurs in rotating “Ecostations.” There are several of these stations where students receive one written test per team. At each station, a series of questions are asked. The questions may require students to perform a test using instruments, observe something, or may be a question based on knowledge of what they have gained from studying. The oral presentation is meant to be a way for students to bring all the information they have learned to develop a management scenario. The scenario needs to address all the varied topics they have studied and satisfy all the stakeholders involved.
The top three teams are awarded with various prizes. The first place team is also offered an expensepaid opportunity to represent Arizona at the North American Envirothon.
Registration for the Arizona Envirothon needs to be received by Jan. 12. Information can be found at Arizona Envirothon on the web. You may contact Rodney Held at azenvirothon@ gmail.com for information and registration packets. Go For it, Yuma County!