Virginia as among the 16 states that participated in the 26th annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from Sunday, July 24, through Thursday, July 28.
The invitational was held at West Virginia University Jackson's Mill State 4-H Camp and Conference Center near Weston, W.Va. The International Paper Company Foundation and the Cooperative Extension Service sponsored the event.
Virginia was represented by Corey Dotson, Jeremy Edwards, Jonathan Edwards and Brian Smith of Clintwood. Susan Wilder coached the team with the assistance of Tim Edwards.
Alabama achieved the top team score. Georgia and Arkansas placed second and third respectively. Samuel Cordner of Alabama received the high-point individual award. Second place was given to Alabama's Anna Vines, and third place went to Kevin Macher of Georgia.
The Joe Yeager leadership award was given to Austin Young of Georgia. 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 orienteering, 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 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.
International Paper (http://www.internationalpaper.com) businesses include paper, packaging and forest products. As one of the largest private forestland owners in the world, International Paper foresters and ecologists manage the woods with great care in compliance with the rigorous standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative¨ program. This independent certification system ensures the perpetual planting, growing and harvesting of trees while protecting wildlife, plants, soil, air and water quality. Through conservation easements and land transactions to environmental groups, International Paper protects more than 500,000 acres of unique and environmentally important habitat on forestlands in the U.S. alone. International Paper's headquarters is located in the United States with operations in over 40 countries. It sells its products to more than 120 nations and is dedicated to managing the world's greatest renewable resource -- trees.
For more information on the National 4-H Forestry Invitational, contact Dr. Robert Hansen at (570) 265-2896 or rsh7@psu.edu.