Spruce Mountain High School Envirothon
Team Earns International Awards and
Scholarships
JAY - The Spruce Mountain High School Envirothon Team won first
place in the Aquatic Ecology Competition and sixth place overall at the 2018 National
Conservation Foundation (NCF) North American Envirothon competition at Idaho
State University on Saturday July 27th. Envirothon is North America’s largest
environmental science competition and the event in Pocatello, Idaho included 50
teams from across the United Stated, Canada, and two teams from China. The competition requires teams to learn about
and complete field tests in Aquatic Ecology, Soil Science, Forestry, Wildlife,
and this year’s current issue, Rangeland Management.
The Spruce
Mountain Team that competed in Pocatello includes graduated Seniors Jordan
Daigle and Rylee Delaney, as well as rising seniors John Brenner, Hunter
Quirrion, and Orion Schwab. Spruce
Mountain graduate Bryan Riley is also a member of the team, but was unable to
attend the competition. All of the team
members have been working together all year to prepare for Envirothon, and the
team won Maine’s Regional and State Championships to qualify to compete in the
NCF event. Since winning the State
Championship on May 26th, the team has spent two months fundraising,
studying, and meeting to prepare. Their
efforts reaped rewards, as they received a $3500 check for scholarships for
team members in recognition of their sixth place finish.
“The event
is highly competitive,” said advisor Rob Taylor, who attended the week-long event
along with school board member and parent chaperone Ann Schwab. “In a number of the tested areas, over a
dozen teams scored over 90% and these are very challenging tests prepared by
Idaho resource professionals. Only state
and provincial champions from the US, Canada, and China competed. I believe 6th place may be the
highest finish ever by a team from Maine.”
Ann Schwab added, “This team is amazing!”
The team score of 95.5 out of 100 in
Aquatics earned the team a station high score award. In Forestry, the team scored a 93.5, only 2.5
points behind the 95 score of Virginia.
In Soils, the team scored a 74, a 16th place finish, and in
Wildlife, the team scored an 88, just 7 points behind New Mexico’s high score
of 95. On the Current Issue Test on
Rangeland Management, the team scored a 68, but this was only 12 points behind
the top score of 80 by West Virginia.
The Current Issue Oral Presentation required the team to do a 20-minute
presentation on their solution to a problem scenario involving improving the
output and bottom line while protecting the environment and resources of a
massive ranch near Pocatello. The team
was asked to take an “integrative and innovative” approach to improving the
ranch, which they did by proposing the addition of wind turbines as a revenue
and renewable energy source and the use of Pseudomonas
fluorescens, an experimental rhizobacterium biopesticide that kills
invasive cheatgrass that is destroying huge numbers of square miles of Idaho
rangeland. The team also proposed the
integration of beaver dam analogs (artificial beaver dams) to improve the
condition of streams and water bodies, as well as promoting multiuse public
access to promote social justice. The team’s oral presentation score of
163/200 placed them 7th in the category. The team’s combine score of 582 was good
enough for 6th place overall.
“I could
not be more proud of the team,” said Taylor.
“We have zero rangeland in Maine, as we are the most forested state by
percentage in the country. The learning
curve was really steep, as the kids had to take in so much new information
about Idaho in the last 2 months. When
we started out, I asked them why do cowboys wear bandanas? They told me it was because cowboys rob banks. After spending a great deal of time on the
rangelands of Idaho, they really understand the need for a bandana as an air
filter. Most of the soil is loess in
origin, which is wind deposited silt. We
have very little of this in Maine. They
learned a great deal about Idaho’s natural resources.”
In order to
prepare and experience first hand the differences between the West and Maine,
the team travelled out a day early and did a whirlwind tour, traveling through
the states of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana on their way to Pocatello, Idaho. The team got to see desert, high desert,
temperate forest, and alpine ecosystems while visiting Grand Teton and
Yellowstone National Parks and Massacre Rocks State Park. Team member Rylee Delaney said, “Traveling to
the places we visited before the competition was a big help when we
competed. Seeing the places and things
we were to be tested on was important, as it is so different from Maine.” Orion Schwab added, “I was shocked when we were
called up for our awards. There were so
many great teams at the competition.”
For senior Jordan Daigle, the event
was bittersweet as it was his third consecutive and final opportunity to
compete at the NCF Envirothon. Prior to
the final presentation he said, “It is hard to believe this is my final
Envirothon event.” Jordan’s team’s
finished 27th in Ontario in 2016, 16th in Maryland in
2017, and 6th in Idaho.
Advisor Rob Taylor said, “I’m going to miss this year’s seniors a great
deal. I have had the pleasure of working
with Jordy (Daigle) and Bryan (Riley) since the first grade and they were both
a big part of the team’s success in Maine and Idaho. The team met at Bryan’s house a few weeks ago
to work on solving a practice current issue problem and the kids really work
well together. I’ll miss those meetings.
I’ll also miss Rylee Delaney, Tanna
Herlihy, and Matt Nichols, who are all off to college and were a big part of
Envirothon at Spruce Mountain.”
On July 2nd,
the team also had a video conference with Kelsey Ramerth, a soil
conservationist currently working in Fort Kent who has spent a great deal of
time working on rangeland conservation.
“Kelsey’s assistance was incredibly helpful and the kids used a lot of what
they learned from her in their presentation.” said Taylor. The team would like to thank all of the
generous sponsors and technical advisors who made our trip to the NCF
Envirothon possible. Without support the
team certainly could not have achieved all it did. The sponsors include:
Technical Support
- Kelsey Ramerth - Soil Conservationist USDA - NRCS Fort Kent Field Office
- Rebecca Jacobs – Education Coordinator - Knox Lincoln Soil and
Water District
- Marco Grimaldi – Sunset Farm
- Maine Association of Conservation Districts
Financial / In Kind Sponsors specifically for
the Spruce Mt. Idaho competition
- Maine Assis of Conservation Districts
- Finley's Funeral Home
- McCallister Accounting
- Franklin Savings Bank
- Otis Federal Credit Union
- Hilltop Autobody
- Livermore Falls Water District
- Dr. William Beaker
- Guild's Country Hardware
- Main Land Development
- Jay Livermore Falls Lions Club
- T and L Automotive
- PalletOne
- Eagle Creek Renewable Energy
- Spruce Mountain Pharmacy
- Innovative Industries
- Jean Castonguay Logging
- Re Energy
- Maurais and Son Plumbing & Heating
- Androscoggin Bank
- Amvets Auxiliary Post 33
- Amvets Post 33
- Dube’s Redemption
- St Rose Parish Block Party
- Otis Credit Union Tag Day Donors
- Riverside Quickstop
- Hannaford Supermarkets
- Regional School Unit 73
- Alan and Linda Cartwright
- John and Brenda Yeadon
- Linda Olson
- Brenner Family
- Grimaldi and Ouellette Families
We also wish to thank
the Maine Envirothon sponsors who supported the State of Maine competitions
which led to Spruce Mountain’s opportunity to compete in Idaho
- Cabot Creamery Coop
- GZA GeoEnvironmental/Portland
- atahdin
Trust Company
- Kennebec
Savings Bank
- Machias
Savings Bank
- Maine
Assoc. of Pro. Soil Scientists
- Maine
Assoc. of Site Evaluators
- Maine
Assoc. of Wetland Scientists
- Maine
Farmland Trust
- Maine
Turnpike Authority
- Oakhurst
Dairy
- Society of Soil Scientists of Northern New England
- Unitel
- Unity
College
- University
of Maine [Forestry Dept]
- USDA-NRCS-Maine
State Office
- Weymouth
Insurance Group
Contact:
Carol Weymouth
Executive Director – MACD
Maine Association of Conservation Districts
cweymouth@maineconservationdistricts.com
207
852-8184
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