By Matt Wallace
On September 12 Richland SWCD and the Richland County office of the United States Department of Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) co-hosted the 2025 Land Judging Contest. Jordan Miller, Soil Conservationist from USDA-NRCS, and I oversaw the contest.
This year we had four schools participate in the contest, which was held at Malabar Farm State Park, with a total of 47 students competing in the contest. The top students from each school will continue onto the District 2 Land Judging Contest with the opportunity to move onto the State Land Judging Contest.
On September 18, Richland SWCD hosted the 2025 District 2 Forestry Contest for the first time since 2008. 150 students from a multitude of schools competed in equipment identification, chainsaw part identification, tree identification, timber cruising, general knowledge, timber stand improvement, as well as tree and forest problem identification. The top team will go on to the State Forestry Contest held later this month at the Hocking College campus. The District 2 contest was held at the picturesque Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District’s (MWCD) Pleasant Hill State Park with the assistance of the Park Manager, Aaron Miller, and his staff. Without their assistance this contest would not have been as successful as it was. We thank the MWCD staff for all of their assistance, and we look forward to working with them on this contest again next year.
