2007 State Envirothon held in Bradley

BRADLEY – Under sunny skies and with warm temperatures, the state Envirothon was held recently at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley.

The Maine Association of Conservation Districts awarded plaques to the top three scoring high school Envirothon teams. The first-, second- and third-place teams, respectively, were:

. Bonny Eagle High School.

. Nokomis High School Team A.

. Bucksport High School Team A.

Thirteen teams representing 10 high schools from around the state competed at the event.

Envirothon, Maine’s largest high school environmental education program, is an international program representing more than 500,000 high school students in the United States and Canada. First place Bonny Eagle High School will represent Maine at the international Canon Envirothon competition in July at the Hobart and William Smith colleges in New York.

The international Canon Envirothon, organized by local conservation districts and other conservation agencies, is sponsored by Canon USA in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA Forest Service, National Association of Conservation Districts, Mead Westvaco Corporation, American Electric Power Inc. and Alcoa Foundation.

The objective of the Maine Envirothon is to provide opportunities for high school students to acquire and increase their outdoor skill and scientific knowledge about Maine’s natural resources so they can make informed, educated decisions about the environment. The activity provides students with reference materials, workshops and hands-on outdoor experiences in forestry, wildlife, soils, aquatics and, this year, Renewable Energy in a Changing World.

Also competing in the State Envirothon finals were Ashland, Dirigo, Gray-New Gloucester, Greenville, Hodgdon, Jay and Old Town.

These teams represented the top three winning teams from five regional competitions.

Resource specialists who cooperated in the State Envirothon were the Maine Department of Agriculture, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Forest Service, Maine’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Maine’s 2007 State Envirothon was funded by grants, sponsorships and contributions from the Maine Association of Wetland Scientists, Maine Department of Conservation, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Potato Board, New England Organics, Oakhurst Dairy, Organic Horizons, Wild Blueberry Commission and Canon North American Envirothon.

An Envirothon Web site for interested teachers and students is available at www.envirothon.org or maineswcs.org.