The Maryland Envirothon program is a competitive natural resource educational program for high school students, carried out through local soil conservation districts. It supplements school's science curriculum with hands on field based activity and instruction by natural resource professionals. Students are trained and tested in five natural resource areas; forestry, aquatics, soils, wildlife and current issues, which is changed each year. The students train throughout the year for the competition with an adult advisor, aided by the various natural resource professionals for each area. Students compete progressively for scholarship money and prizes at the school, county, state and finally at the National level.
In 2021, due to COVID, the Maryland Envirothon competition was held virtually. In normal years, only one team from each county (the team that won their county Envirothon) would compete in the State Envirothon. But since this year’s competition was virtual, any team that wanted could compete in the State Envirothon. As a result, 50 teams from throughout Maryland competed, with a team from Richard Montgomery High School in Montgomery County taking top honors. Second place went to Harford Christian Academy, and third place Allegany High School. Each student on the top three teams received scholarship checks provided by the Maryland Grain Producers. The team from Richard Montgomery H.S. went on to represent Maryland at the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon, where they placed a very respectable 9th out of 41 teams from the U.S., Canada and China.
The Maryland Grain Producers have funded this competition for many years, giving $5,000 in 2021. We are excited to see Maryland’s high school students participating in natural resource competitions, and commend this group for their hard work!