Dawson County Envirothon Club Qualifies for International NCF-Envirothon

High school students from across Nebraska gathered April 30, 2025, in Omaha for the 33rd annual Nebraska State Envirothon. Dawson County Envirothon Club earned the championship title and a $1,500 prize, securing their spot to represent Nebraska at the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon, which will be held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Envirothon is an environmental education program for high school students that combines classroom learning and outdoor activities. The competition rotates around the state, and this year’s competition was hosted at Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District’s Chalco Hills Recreation Area in Omaha.

“Envirothon allows students to get outdoors and learn about natural resources in a hands-on environment,” said Martin Graff, Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) president. “The activities are designed to help students become environmentally aware, action-oriented adults, but also exposes them to many exciting career opportunities.”

During the state competition, five-member teams were tested on their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, policy, range, soils and wildlife, as well as prepared and delivered an oral presentation focusing on a current environmental issue. Some of the immersive test questions require students to identify live animals, measure trees, distinguish range grasses and determine soil texture.

The 2025 oral presentation theme “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change” challenged teams to develop a sustainable management plan for a section of the Boreal Forest, ensuring its long-term health and resilience in the face of climate change.

“Students work together to research the current environmental issue, and consider the hypothetical impacts,” Graff said. “It is important to train students to think critically and problem solve, because they’ll encounter difficult issues in their lives and their future careers.”

The NARD Foundation awarded cash prizes to the top three teams at the state competition:

• First Place ($1,500): Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Second Place ($1,000): Concordia Lutheran of Omaha
• Third Place ($500): Tri-County Public Schools

Additional prizes were awarded to the top teams in each testing category:

• Aquatics: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Forestry: Tri-County Public Schools
• Policy: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Range: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Soils: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Wildlife (Tie): Dawson County Envirothon Club and St. Paul
• Oral Presentation: Dawson County Envirothon Club

Seventy teams competed in the regional contests during February and March, and 14 teams qualified to participate in the state competition. Dawson County Envirothon Club will represent Nebraska at the NCF-Envirothon July 19-26, 2025, to compete for a top prize of $15,000. The international NCF-Envirothon will be hosted at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and include more than 45 teams from the U.S., Canada, China and Singapore.

In addition to Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts, 2025 Nebraska Envirothon sponsors and partners included Farm Credit Services of America, HDR, Houston Engineering, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, Nebraska Forest Service, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, Nebraska FFA Foundation, Smithfield Foods, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Nebraska School of Natural Resources.

earn more about the Nebraska Envirothon at www.nrdnet.org/nebraska-envirothon.

The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD), the trade association for Nebraska’s 23 Natural Resources Districts (NRD), works with individual districts to protect lives, property and the future of Nebraska’s natural resources. NRDs are unique to Nebraska, and act as local government entities with broad responsibilities to protect Nebraska’s natural resources. Major Nebraska river basins form the boundaries of the 23 NRDs, enabling districts to respond to local conservation and resource management needs. Learn more about Nebraska’s NRDs at www.nrdnet.org.

Champion Dawson County: Dawson County Envirothon Club takes home the Nebraska Envirothon Championship April 30, 2025. Team members include: Brooklyn Reiman (Gothenburg High School), Casey Wahlgren (Gothenburg High School), Parker Walahoski (Overton High School), Paige Walahoski (Overton High School) and Jaelin Wolfinger (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller Schools).

Forestry_Dawson_County: Students from Dawson County Envirothon Club work together at the Forestry station to measure tree diameter during the Nebraska Envirothon April 30, 2025.

Second_Concordia_Lutheran: Concordia Lutheran of Omaha took second place and $1,000 during the Nebraska Envirothon April 30, 2025. Team members include: Aiden Baessler, Cole Bennett, Malachi Ellis, Peder Ersland and Max Jones.

Third_Tri-County: Tri-County Public Schools took third place and $500 during the Nebraska Envirothon April 30, 2025. Team members include: Henry Kapke, Parker Person, Garrett Smidt, Jason Werhman and Jacob Wollenburg.

Wildlife_St. Paul: Students from St. Paul High School work together at the Wildlife station during the Nebraska Envirothon April 30, 2025. St. Paul took home a high score award in Wildlife. Team members include: Layne Baker, Emerson Hancock, Matthew Kramer, Rylan Rasmussen and Grady Ryan.