DANVILLE, Pa., May 15, 2002 -- High school students from throughout Pennsylvania will gather at PPL's Montour Preserve near Danville on May 20 and 21 for the annual state Envirothon.
Sponsored by Pennsylvania's 66 conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, the Pennsylvania Envirothon is designed not only to teach students environmental facts and realities, but also to instill an understanding of the ecological and community factors that are involved in environmental decisions and actions.
"Participating teams represent the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who competed in local envirothons sponsored by county conservation districts across the state," said Lou Ramos, PPL's Community Affairs manager.
"PPL was the host for the first statewide competition in 1988, and we're pleased to be able to have it here again," he added. "The Envirothon combines education with environmental stewardship, one of PPL's priorities."
During the program, student teams will compete in several areas, including aquatics, wildlife, soils and forestry. The theme for the 2002 Envirothon is "Introduced Species and Their Effect on Biodiversity."
Partnering with the conservation districts to present the Envirothon are the state Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. In addition to PPL, corporate sponsors of the Envirothon are Air Products and Chemicals and the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association.
The winning team in the state Envirothon will go on to compete in the 16th annual international competition to be held at Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., in late July.
PPL Corp., headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls or owns more than 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets, and delivers electricity to nearly 6 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.
