Garfield-Palouse students win state Envirothon

GARFIELD — Garfield-Palouse students earned first place at the 2021 Washington State Envirothon Competition, hosted by various conservation districts.

Students Ethan Montgomery, Megan Olson, Austin Jones, Garrett Blomgren, and Ethan Cook, won the state competition. Garfield-Palouse High School Agricultural Career and Technical Education Instructor Mark Sawyer is their advisor.

Eleven high school teams, comprised of 68 students, competed in displaying their knowledge and decision making regarding wildlife, forestry, aquatic ecology, and soils and land use, according to Jodi Prout, Palouse Conservation District coordinator.

The Garfield-Palouse High School team is representing Washington State at the virtual national competition in July, hosted by Nebraska.

“Each team was tested on these four topics, where students may have been asked to identify native Washington animals, discuss the different stages of forest development, recognize healthy salmon habitat, or name the main components of soil,” stated Prout.

The Garfield-Palouse team gave a 10-minute presentation on their solution to a scenario entitled, “Water Resource Management: Local Control and Local Solution.” It was a conceptual public property acquisition for the long-term benefit to both the community and the environment.