Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program Overview

Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program (WHEP) is a national competition that involves the following:

• identifying wildlife foods
• interpreting aerial photographs
• prescribing management practices for a piece of land
• developing a rural management plan
• developing an urban wildlife management plan

Youth participate in teams of four. There are two age groups: juniors (age 9-13) and seniors (age 14-19). Ages are calculated on Jan. 1 of the contest year. Team members usually come from the same or adjoining counties.

Teams begin practicing locally during the winter months. There are district competitions held in the spring, and the state contest is in May. Virginia follows a "world series" type of selection process for the National Contest, which means the winning team goes on. This allows the team to take full advantage of the 10 weeks left to practice before the national contest, which is held in a different state each year.