Land and Water Conservation Youth Education

Poster and Speaking Contest Results

2024 Conservation Awareness
Speaking Contest Winners

Five students competed in the Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Dept. Conservation Speaking Contest on Monday, January 8, 2024. Each student prepared a speech about a conservation topic of their choice!

Elementary Division 5-6th Grade:

1st Place: Olivia Breger spoke on the topic of Pollution in Lake Michigan

2nd Place: Piper Beyler spoke on the topic of Lake Minocqua

Junior Division 7-8th Grade:

1st Place: Mason Marquardt spoke on Protecting Our Forests

2nd Place: Bryce Bortz spoke on Natural Recreational Areas

3rd Place: Madeline Cleveland spoke on Riparian Buffers

We were all impressed by their knowledge and passion for the topic they chose! Congratulations to all speakers on a job well done! The 1st place winners of each category move on to the State Speaking Conference on March 6th in Green Bay, WI!

Shout out to all of our AMAZING sponsors who donated prizes for our Speaking and Poster Contest winners! We are so grateful for your support!

Buffalo Phils, WI Dells, Carols Cones, Cascade Mountain, Craig’s Popcorn Corner, Crawford Oil (Noah’s Ark Passes), Culvers, Portage, WI Dells Ducks USPHL Premier Hockey, J & J Fireball Lanes, Knuckleheads, Madison Mallards, Madison‘s Childrens Museum, McDonalds, Portage, MooseJaw Pizza & Grille, Piggly Wiggly, Pizza Hut, Portage, Pizza Ranch, Portage, Portage Theaters, Sal‘s Pizza, Portage, Sassy Cow Creamery, Subway, Portage, Timbavati Wildlife Park, WI Dells, WI Dells Poppy Waterman Ice Arena, Wizard Quest, WI Dells

About the WI Land & Water

Poster & Speaking Contest

Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Department promotes youth education in Wisconsin by hosting an annual Conservation Awareness Poster Contest and Speech Contest. Both contests are open to all Columbia County students home school, private and public.

Conservation Awareness Poster Contest

The Conservation Poster Contest is open to kindergarten through 12th grade students and posters are evaluated on the following criteria:

Conservation message
Visual effectiveness
Originality
Universal appeal
Individual artwork

Students will compete first in the Columbia County division with the winning 1st place winners moving on to compete in the Southern Area Regional Competition, then at the State Competition in March at the WI Land+Water’s Annual Conference. The first-place posters from the state competition will represent Wisconsin at the National Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting.

Conservation Awareness Speaking Contest

The Conservation Speech Contest is open to Elementary Division- Grades 5-6, Junior Division- Grades 7-8, and Senior Division-Grades 9-12. The Conservation Speech Contest aims to promote the conservation of natural resources and the protection or enhancement of environmental quality.

Emphasis is placed on the subject as it relates to the locality or to Wisconsin. Students compete at county and area competitions, with the winners moving on to the State Competition in March at WI Land+Water’s Annual Conference. The first-place winners in each category share their speeches at the conference luncheon.