SHERMAN STATION — Katahdin High School biology teacher David Wilkins is beginning to think that Washington, D.C., is his second home.

Later this month, he and two of his students will fly to the nation’s capital where they will represent Maine at the Youth Environmental Action Forum sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Governors’ Association. It will be Wilkin’s third trip to the capital in three years in connection with school activities.

Wilkins has been a teacher in SAD 25 since 1975. Part of his program there has included environmental and energy studies. His efforts have garnered him and his students three first-place finishes in the state Energy Education contest, including a first-place finish at the national level. In addition, Wilkins has twice in recent years been selected as state Conservation Teacher of the Year, and recently was chosen as 1990 Maine Audubon Teacher of the Year.

Wilkins learned last month that he and two students of his choice had been selected by Gov. John R. McKernan to represent him and Maine at the YEA forum.

On May 20, he and students James McNally and Charles Cullinscq will depart for a three-day stay in Washington where they will participate in the forum. The forum is designed to provide them, and 86 other students from across the country, with the opportunity to learn more about environmental issues and to identify ways to help motivate young people to protect the environment.

“I don’t think I’ve come down from the implication,” Wilkins said Monday. “It’s overwhelming. There’s an element of ego in the fact that you’re representing the governor.”

State officials are pleased with the selection of Wilkins.

“His name came up quite a few times,” said Sandy Tate, director of policy and planning for the Department of Environmental Protection. “He has a reputation throughout the state for his work in environmental education.”

She said she contacted several agencies about a candidate to be nominated to attend the YEA forum. She said that in each case, Wilkins’ efforts and accomplishments in the field of environmental education were brought up.

She said Wilkins’ programs at Katahdin were impressive for a small rural school and were far advanced, even when compared to larger schools in the state.

“He really motivates students in this whole area of environmental education,” she said. “He has the energy. He has the commitment. He’s very positive.”

She said Wilkins’ reputation as an environmental educator also was well established among environmental officials in Washington.