NRCS New York continues to support the NCF-Envirothon program since its inception in 1979.

"The NCF-Envirothon team thanks NRCS, the NYACED, and the CDEA for supporting NCF at both the state and national levels. NRCS’s sponsorship of the NCF-Envirothon helps support the 50,000 high school students who participate annually. NCF is grateful for the partnership with NRCS and looks forward to their continued efforts to provide opportunities where the next generation of conservation leaders can thrive," said Jeremy Peters, NCF executive director.

The NCF-Envirothon competition featured high school students competing in teams to demonstrate their environmental knowledge and problem-solving skills. Testing and competition focused on soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues. Each of these topics relates to the mission of NRCS, which helps producers, soil and water conservation districts, and other land stewards protect and conserve natural resources on private lands throughout the United States. 

During the 2024 competition, students focused on the current issue of “Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future.” They learned about the different sources of renewable energy, the challenges of transitioning from traditional fossil fuels to renewables, the environmental, economic, and social impacts of energy consumption, and how individuals can affect change in their communities. 

Students demonstrated their knowledge of this year’s current issue topic, as well as soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, and wildlife management, through written tests and prepared oral presentations. This year’s competition brought together 49 teams of high school students from across the U.S., Canada, China and Singapore.    

NCRS staff played an integral role in 46 Envirothon programs located across the U.S. Staff mentored teams, provided training opportunities, assisted in compiling study resource materials, created test questions, administered tests, and more. NRCS New York is proud to be a part of the annual State Envirothon and the 2024 National Envirothon. We as an agency love to see the next generation’s passion for learning about our environment, and the world around us. State Conservationist Blake Glover said, “Educating future environmentalists and conservationists about the environment, and all the ways that we can help nurture the environment is something special and NRCS values playing a part in environment education.” 

NCF received grant funds from USDA NRCS to help support the development and growth of the Envirothon program overall. In 2024, NRCS New York provided a significant contribution of $350,000 to the New York State Host of the 2024 NCF-Envirothon Annual Competition.

For more information about the 2024 NCF-Envirothon, visit https://envirothon.org/2024-ny/.

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About NCF-Envirothon: 

NCF-Envirothon is a hands-on, environmental problem-solving, leadership development program that annually includes a competition involving high school students throughout the U.S., Canada, China and Singapore. Participating teams complete training and testing in five natural resource categories: soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues. The program combines in-class curriculum and hands-on field experience to provide an E-STEM program for students in environmental education, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

NCF-Envirothon works in partnership with local conservation districts and their state associations, forestry associations, educators, school officials and cooperating natural resources agencies to organize and conduct competitions on the local, regional, state and/or provincial level. Winning teams from each state and province advance to a final competition for the opportunity to compete for recognition, scholarships and prizes, as well as understanding of natural resources issues. For more information on this exciting program, visit www.envirothon.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.