Fifteen high school teams competed at the 20th Annual Iowa Envirothon State Competition at Springbrook State Park in Guthrie Center on April 11, 2016. This year’s state winner was Decorah Ospreys. They will be sent to the National Conservation Foundation - Envirothon Competition July 24 – 29, 2016 at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Envirothon is a team competition for high school students testing their knowledge of natural resources. In the field and classroom, teams of five students are challenged to use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to conduct hands-on investigations, solve real-life scenarios and answer written questions covering five categories: Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife and Current Environmental Issues.

The 2016 Iowa Envirothon Runner-Up was Muscatine FFA Red. The following teams were this year’s first place category winners: Decorah Ospreys in Aquatics, Decorah Ospreys in Forestry, Bellevue FFA Blue in Soils, Muscatine FFA Red in Wildlife, Maquoketa FFA in Current Issue, and La Porte-Dysart FFA in the Oral Presentation. The top FFA Score for the 2016 Iowa Envirothon competition was Muscatine FFA Red. Maquoketa FFA was the FFA Runner-Up.

The Iowa Envirothon is hosted by the Conservation Districts of Iowa. Supporters of the Iowa Envirothon include Griggs Environmental Strategies, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship-Division of Soil Conservation and Water Quality, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa FFA Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Society, Iowa Soybean Association, Kim Leichtman, Natural Resources Conservation Service, North American Envirothon , Smithfield Foods – Algona, Smithfield Foods – Carroll, Springbrook State Park, and many Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

For pictures and more information, please visit www.iowaenvirothon.org.