{"id":4248,"date":"2013-04-16T13:06:48","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T13:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=4248"},"modified":"2013-04-16T13:14:23","modified_gmt":"2013-04-16T13:14:23","slug":"maryland-teens-get-back-to-nature-to-prepare-for-first-round-of-environmental-education-competitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2013\/04\/16\/maryland-teens-get-back-to-nature-to-prepare-for-first-round-of-environmental-education-competitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Teens Get Back to Nature to Prepare for First Round of Environmental Education Competitions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Students<\/a>

Students studying environmental issues and preparing for the Envirothon. (Photo by Dan Bard)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Hundreds of Maryland\u2019s brightest high school students are leaving the\u00a0classroom and heading for the hills, streams, woods and fields of Maryland\u2019s countryside to compete in the first round of qualifying heats leading up to the 2013 North American Envirothon, North America\u2019s largest high school environmental education competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeens competing in the Envirothon represent the future of Maryland agriculture and our natural resources protection efforts,\u201d said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. \u201cThe program provides teens with an exceptional opportunity to work with environmental experts in the field to learn about Maryland\u2019s natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students participating in the Envirothon have been studying the state\u2019s natural resources since September. As part of their extracurricular training, teenagers identify and categorize living resources, perform soil surveys, estimate wood yield from trees, and solve other complex natural resource issues. They receive hands-on instruction from soil scientists, wildlife specialists, foresters and environmental engineers from local, state and federal agencies as well as private environmental organizations. The program also focuses on a special environmental issue that changes from year to year. This year\u2019s environmental issue is sustainable rangeland management.<\/p>\n

Teams compete by applying their knowledge and problem-solving skills in these natural resource areas. The county team with the highest cumulative total wins the local or regional competition and advances to the Maryland Envirothon scheduled for June 19 and 20, at the Western Maryland 4-H Education Center in Garrett County. The winner of the Maryland Envirothon will represent the state later this summer at the 2013 North American Envirothon scheduled for August 4-9 at Montana State University where more than 250 teenagers from the United States and Canada will compete for $100,000 in scholarships and prizes.<\/p>\n

The Envirothon is sponsored by Maryland\u2019s soil conservation districts and the State Soil Conservation Committee and supported by other state and federal programs. Below are the dates and contacts for upcoming county Envirothon competitions.<\/p>\n

Allegany Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: May 1, 2013
\nPlace: Rocky Gap State Park
\nContact: Craig Hartsock, 301-777-1747, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Anne Arundel Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 17, 2013
\nPlace: Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center
\nContact: Will Williams, Arlington Echo, 410-222-3822<\/p>\n

Baltimore County Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 19, 2013
\nPlace: Oregon Ridge Lodge
\nContact: Jim Ensor, Baltimore County Soil Conservation District, (410) 527-5920, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Calvert Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: May 1, 2013
\nPlace: King\u2019s Landing Park
\nContact: Linda Subda, 410-535-2960<\/p>\n

Carroll Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 24, 2013
\nPlace: Hashawha\/Bear Branch Center
\nContact: Ed Null, Carroll Soil Conservation District, (410) 848-8200, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Cecil Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: May 1, 2013
\nPlace: Fair Hill Nature Center
\nContact: Charles Hayes, Cecil Soil Conservation District, (410) 398-4411, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Charles Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 23, 2013
\nPlace: Gilbert Run Park
\nContact: Dee Dee Saunders, Charles Soil Conservation District, (301) 934-9588, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Eastern Shore Envirothon<\/strong>
\nDate: May 7, 2013
\nCounties: Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne\u2019s, Talbot and Worcester counties
\nPlace: Tuckahoe State Park
\nContact: Craig Zinter, Talbot Soil Conservation District, 410-822-1577, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Frederick County Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: April 23, 2013
\nPlace: Cunningham Falls State Park
\nContact: Terry Welsh, 301-695-2803, ext. 3 or Barry Burch, Walkersville High School, 240-215-5004<\/p>\n

Garrett Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: April 30, 2013
\nPlace: Western Maryland 4-H Education Center, Bittinger
\nContact: Shaun Sanders, Garrett Soil Conservation District, 301-334-6950, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Harford Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: May 1, 2013
\nLocation: Anita Leight Estuary Center
\nContact: Patrick Jones, 410-838-6181, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Howard Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: May 1, 2013
\nPlace: Howard County Conservancy\u2019s Mount Pleasant Farm, Woodstock.
\nContact: Kristal M. McCormick, Howard Soil Conservation District, (410) 489-7987<\/p>\n

Montgomery Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 24, 2013
\nPlace: Agricultural History Farm Park
\nContact: David Plummer, Montgomery Soil Conservation District, (301) 590-2855<\/p>\n

Prince George\u2019s Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: April 24, 2013
\nPlace: William S. Schmidt Center
\nContact: Debbie Sandlin, Prince George\u2019s Soil Conservation District, (301) 574-5162, ext. 3<\/p>\n

St. Mary\u2019s Envirothon Competition <\/strong>
\nDate: April 24, 2013
\nPlace: Robert and Lillian Jarboe Farm
\nContact: Hayley Carter, St. Mary\u2019s Soil Conservation District, (301) 475-8402, ext. 3<\/p>\n

Washington County Envirothon Competition<\/strong>
\nDate: April 19, 2013
\nPlace: Fairview Outdoor School
\nContact: Elmer Weibley or Ginger Noble, Washington County Soil Conservation District, (301)797-6821, ext. 3.<\/p>\n

##<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Hundreds of Maryland\u2019s brightest high school students are leaving the\u00a0classroom and heading for the hills, streams, woods and fields of Maryland\u2019s countryside to compete in the first round of qualifying heats leading up to the 2013 North American Envirothon, North America\u2019s largest high school environmental education competition. \u201cTeens competing in the Envirothon  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4248"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4250,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4248\/revisions\/4250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}