Annually across Texas, FFA students and 4-H members participate in local and regional forestry contests. Then, up to four teams (two from FFA and two from 4-H) from each of the regional contests compete at the state level contest held just outside of Nacogdoches at the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest property shared with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s East Texas Plant Materials Center.
This year, a total of 68 4-member teams competed at the state level on April 20, 2023. Each team completed activities at five unique stations as part of the competition.
The contest is led by the Soil and Water Conservation Districts with personnel from NRCS serving on the planning committee, setting up the contest stations, staffing stations the day of the event, and providing career outreach to the students in attendance. The NRCS team this year included: State Forester Brian Townsend; Zone 4 Forester Keagen Lowey; Resource Team Leader, Justin Parks, Nacogdoches District Conservationist Brooke McCalip; San Augustine District Conservationist James Herrington; Carthage District Conservationist Erika Blakemore; Center District Conservationist Chris Crenshaw; Henderson District Conservationist Josh Boyett; Lufkin District Conservationist Callie Pratt; Lufkin Soil Conservationist Brittany Neel; and, Program Support Specialist Adrianne Paterson, . Ted Thompson, the district technician in Nacogdoches, led the state level contest for the soil and water conservation districts.
“This is my first year to participate in the state contest as an NRCS employee,” said Lowey. “I am so glad NRCS supports career development events for students involved with FFA and 4-H.”
NRCS Texas Resource Team Leader Justin Parks wholeheartedly agreed. “These career development events provide students with the opportunity to develop and strengthen forestry skills,” said Parks. “Who knows? Some of these students may end up future agricultural leaders in Texas or beyond.”
Students visit each station to demonstrate different skill sets related to forestry including compass and pacing, tree identification, wood product identification, and volume estimation of standing timber. Lowey explained the skill sets being tested are real world skills used by foresters.
To further entice students toward futures in forestry and other natural resources conservation fields, the Texas A&M Forestry Service and NRCS provided careers information to the high school-aged students. Many who stopped by to visit with NRCS were excited to learn there are a variety of career opportunities available in agricultural related fields with the federal government.
Students who placed first through third in the competition received monetary scholarships to be used towards their college education. The scholarships were sponsored by Texas Forest Landowners Associations and the Texas Forestry Association. This year’s winning FFA teams were from Warren, Simms and DeKalb counties. This year’s winning 4-H teams were from Polk County and two teams from Cass County.
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