| Caleb Jones of Huntington, Whitney Jensen of Castle Dale, Jacie Fasselin of Elmo, and Cade Whittle of Ferron, pose with Gaylene Conder at West Virginia University. |
Utah was among the 15 states that participated in the 27th annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from July 23- 27. This was Utah’s first trip to the Invitational.
The event was held at West Virginia University Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp and Conference Center near Weston, W.V.
The International Paper Company Foundation and the Cooperative Extension Service sponsored the invitational.
Representing Utah was Cade Whittle of Ferron, Caleb Jones of Huntington, Jacie Fasselin of Elmo, and Whitney Jensen of Castle Dale. The team was chaperoned by Gaylene Conder of Ferron and Randy Jones of Huntington.
Illinois won the event. Virginia and Arkansas placed second and third respectively. Elizabeth Shiley received the high-point individual award. Second place was given to Meghan Mullins of Virginia, and third place went to Zach Beever of Illinois.
The Joe Yeager leadership award was given to Chad Barclay of Pennsylvania. This award is presented to the individual who demonstrated excellent communication, management, decision-making and interpersonal skills.
Students compete for overall team and individual awards in several categories. Events included a forestry written exam, tree identification, tree measurement, compass and pacing, insect and disease identification, topographic map use, the Forestry Bowl and forest evaluation.
4-H is a youth education program operated by Cooperative Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state land grant universities. More than five-and-a-half million young people participate in 4-H, and nearly 100,000 are part of the 4-H Forestry Program.
The Emery County 4-H Forestry Team appreciates Mike Kuhns, Professor and Extension Forester with the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University, Darren McAvoy, Editor of Utah Forest Facts, Joel Frandsen, State Forester and Director, UTSAF, IMSAF, Hal Lemon, Roger Barton, Dave Hinkins and the San Rafael Soil Conservation District and the International Paper Company Foundation for their generous support.
The International Paper Company Foundation was created in 1953 as a philanthropic grant-making organization. It addresses educational and civic needs within the business communities of International Paper. The Foundation also supports organizations where employees actively volunteer.
For more information on the National 4-H Forestry Invitational, contact Dr. Robert Hansen at (570) 265-2896 or rsh7@psu.edu.