Teens Gather For National Envirothon

About 400 high school students, advisers and observers from 28 states and two Canadian provinces will be in eastern Idaho during the coming week to compete in the 1995 National Envirothon.

The setting for the five-day event starting Monday will be a swan-filled lake at Harriman State Park, which is a working cattle ranch and wildlife preserve.

The problem-solving competition culminates a yearlong environmental education program. It tests high school students on their knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, water and a current environmental issue, which this year is groundwater.

“The program is designed to increase environmental literacy and encourage students to become environmentally aware and action-oriented adults,” said Bill Kahler, national Envirothon chairman. “It focuses on using the outdoors as an alternative to classroom learning.”

The Envirothon program started in 1979 in Pennsylvania, and the first national competition was in 1988. The 1995 national competition is the first held west of the Mississippi River.