The Annual Range & Pasture Plant Identification and the Wildlife and Recreation Management Career Development Events were conducted on October 9, 2019. The Freestone County Soil and Water Conservation District and Anderson-Houston SWCD Hosted; in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service provided the technical skills for setting up and conducting these events with help from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
In the Plant ID Contest, participants are asked to identify 20 to 25 plants indigenous to and/or adapted to Freestone County by name as well as various characteristics. The Plant ID Contest winners as follows: 1st Place –Cody Fowler, Teague FFA; 2nd Place – Allison Dycus Teague FFA; and 3rd Place – Maddie Tharp, Teague FFA. Pictured with them is FFA Teacher Thomas Cannon.
The Wildlife & Recreation Contest consists of four stops, each having its own criteria to determine knowledge of facts related to wildlife and conservation according to the rules and regulations approved by the Texas Education Agency in conjunction with the Texas Agriscience 381 Wildlife and Recreation Management curriculum. The four stops are as follows: Wildlife Habitat & Management; Wildlife Biological Facts & Techniques; Game Laws & Safety; and Plant ID & Food Preferences.
The Wildlife & Recreation Management Contest individual winners were: 1st Place – Baylynn Hemphill, Normangee FFA; 2nd Place– Cody Fowler, Teague FFA; and 3rd Place – Emily Ecord, Groveton FFA. The Team winners were: 1st Place – Normangee FFA (Baylynn Hemphill, Tristan Ross, Blake Tesch & Ross Smith); 2nd Place – Groveton FFA (Emily Ecord, Hayden Lee, Kortney Bowersox & Brooke Mathis); and 3rd Place – Madisonville FFA (Adrian Edwards, Austin Longoria, Colby Sheppard & Tent Morris).
