The top three teams will attend the North Dakota State Envirothon at Crystal Springs in May 2025. Winners were: first, Kenmare Fire Breathing Ostriches; second, Minot High Jack Pine Savages; third, Our Redeemer’s Christian School Crunchy Craniums.

The 13 teams of four to six high school students began their day with the Trail Test on walking paths around the refuge shop. The students and their trail guides visited 20 sites, where they answered questions on aquatics, soils, wildlife, forestry and prairie/range topics.

The groups moved into the refuge shop to listen to State Forester Tom Claeys with the N.D. Forestry Service speak on “Forests and the Impacts of Climate Change,” which relates to the current Issue topic chosen for the 2025 national Envirothon competition in Alberta. The students had about an hour to work as a group to prepare a 10-minute presentation on the topic to present orally to the judges.

When not presenting, students visited other speakers, including Cody Clemenson of the N.D. Forest Service, Kelly and Deanna Lozensky of Guardian Grains, Mike Connole and K9 Ike from the Minot Police Department, Berthold Sportsmen Archery and Paige Brummund with North Dakota State University Extension-Ward County.

Submitted Photo Finishing in first place in the Mouse River Loop Envirothon is Kenmare’s Fire-Breathing Ostriches. From left are Anna Peterson, Drew Houck, Landan Spear and Roxy Quigley. The team’s adviser is Laura Mibeck.

The final results were calculated through a combination of the trail test results (50%) and the oral presentation scores from the judges (50%).

The Mouse River Loop Envirothon is planned and run by a committee of personnel from Burke, Renville and Ward County Soil Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, NDSU Extension, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.