History:
In 1979, the Pennsylvania Soil and Water Conservation District originally coined the program "Environmental Olympics" to encourage high school students to become interested in natural resource conservation, environmental issues, and careers in this field.
In 1988, the program was named Envirothon and the first national competition was held with competitors from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts.
In 1992, the first Canadian team from Nova Scotia joined the competition.
The program currently operates under the name North American Envirothon, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
Source: https://www.envirothon.org/
To this day, Envirothon's mission resembles its' historical origination:
"To develop knowledgeable skilled and dedicated citizens who have an understanding of natural resources and are willing and prepared to work towards achieving and maintaining a balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment" for high school students nationwide.
"The Envirothon mission is accomplished by developing in young people an understanding of the principles and practices of natural resource management and ecology
and through practice dealing with complex resource management decisions."
Source: https://www.envirothon.org/aboutus/mission-goals-and-objectives
Teams train for and compete in five subject areas:
Washington State Envirothon:
Regional events are held all around Washington prior to the state event. The number one ranking team in each county has the opportunity to compete in the state competition.
List of regional events:
2019 NCW Regional Envirothon:
Foster Creek CD had the honor of organizing the 2019 event. In partnership with WA State Parks, the event was held at Sun Lakes - Dry Falls State Park (pictured below) at the Camp Delany Environmental Learning Center on April 24th. The sun was shining and the wind was still - it was a beautiful day to be outside for students to test their knowledge on the 5 topics in prime sagebrush shrub-steppe habitat.
Students, teachers, and volunteers received an authentic Envirothon t-shirt at the event.
Thank you to our Major Sponsors for the 2019 event !
Previous Envirothon Events: