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Land & Range Judging Contests
Every two years the Nemaha NRD hosts
the Southeast Area Land Judging Contest for high school students
from a seven-county area. Land Judging is a high school competition
where each participant learns how to recognize the physical features
of the soil, determine land capability for crop production, and
evaluate management practices needed for proper stewardship.
Students actually travel to a site where they can see and feel the
soil and answer questions during the half day contest. Though geared
mostly toward FFA chapters, any student is eligible to compete.
Awards are presented both to individuals and teams of 3 or 4
students, and winners who are FFA members advance to a state
competition and possibly even the national contest.
The 2010 Southeast Area Land Judging Contest was held Tuesday,
October 5, near Auburn in Nemaha County. Click for
Team Results,
Individual Results.
Check our latest newsletter posted on
our site for more information about this year’s Land Judging
Contest.
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The Nemaha NRD also hosts the Area 6 Range Judging Contest every few
years. This contest is also for high school students competing in
either a junior or senior division and may include FFA chapters, 4-H
groups, or individuals. Similar to land judging, range judging
allows students an opportunity to experience the grasslands of
Nebraska with a hands-on identification portion as well as grassland
use section of questioning. A state, regional, and national contest
are also held.
The 2009 Area 6 Range Judging Contest was hosted in the Nemaha NRD
at Burchard Lake in Pawnee County. Click for
Senior Team
Results,
Junior Team
Results,
Senior Individual Results, and
Junior Individual Results.
Watershed
of Wonders
Watershed of
Wonders Held June 18 at Iron Horse Trail Lake
Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 57 youngsters from six counties in
southeast Nebraska enjoyed a day of fun and learning at this
year’s edition of Watershed of Wonders.
Sponsored by the Nemaha Natural Resources District and funded in
part through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency,
this year’s day camp was held at Iron Horse Trail Lake near
DuBois. Previous versions of this camp took place at Kirkman’s
Cove near DuBois.
Throughout the day the 10-12 year olds rotated around to seven
different stations. They learned about fishing and got to cast
at targets in the lake. Don & Carol Ensor from Tecumseh brought
their pontoon boat for the day and gave rides and provided boat
safety information. Mary Moser, science teacher at Pawnee City,
along with some teens from Pawnee City, helped the kids make
their own water rockets, which they were then able to shoot into
the air. NRD staff assisted with all the activities, which even
included making leaf prints, water Pictionary, and wildlife
games. There was even an “amazing water race” throughout the
park.
Each child received an official Watershed of Wonders t-shirt and
a bag full of other fun stuff to take home at the end of the
day. Everything, including lunch and snacks, were provided at no
cost to participants thanks to not only the grant funding but
also because of the generous donation of time from the many
volunteers who assisted that day.
Watershed of Wonders has been held biannually since its
inception in 2002 in conjunction with watershed management
projects in the Kirkman’s Cove and now the Iron Horse Trail Lake
watersheds. With the completion of these projects, it remains to
be seen if or where another WoW day camp will be held.
Each spring teams of five high school
students compete for the opportunity to advance to the state and
possibly national Envirothon competitions. The teams are tested in the
areas of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics, range, natural resources
policy, as well as one national focus topic selected each year. Teams
are divided into six regions throughout the state and advance to the
state competition based upon their standing within their regional
contests. The state contest is usually held the first Saturday in May at
one of several locations throughout the state.
Water
Celebration
The Nemaha NRD co-sponsors with the
Southeast Six Extension Programming Unit a two-day event for fifth
graders. Entitled the "Water Celebration", the event began in
1989 and is currently held at Peru State College during their spring
break each March. Approximately 400 fifth graders attend over the
two-day period and experience hands-on learning about water in many
forms. For more information, contact Steve Zimmers at the Otoe County
Cooperative Extension in Syracuse (402) 269-2301.
With the "Home of Arbor Day"
situated within the Nemaha NRD's borders, trees are an obvious emphasis.
Each spring more than 600 third graders receive seedling trees from the
NRD along with an opportunity to learn first-hand how to plant and care
for a tree. NRD staff visit schools throughout the District delivering
the trees and providing an actual planting demonstration and answering
questions about trees.
Educational materials are presented for
a variety of themes, including the national curriculums Project Wild,
Project Learning Tree, and Project Wet. Teachers interested in obtaining
these materials must attend a 6-hour workshop where they will learn how
to put the materials to use in an easy and fun format. To set up a
workshop or find out more about workshop dates, contact
Jane Kuhl at the Nemaha NRD.
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