It's about challenging our youth! 

It's about making teaching fun!

It's about changing attitudes!

It's about preserving our future!

The Envirothon uses the outdoors as an alternative to classroom learning. In this natural setting, students become aware of the many environmental problems that exist today. Working as a team, they learn to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to arrive at solutions to specific environmental problems.

The Envirothon encourages "hands-on" learning. Students learn many interesting facts, but more importantly, learn to listen to various viewpoints to solve problems.

They also have the opportunity to learn from a variety of environmental education professionals. This offers great opportunities for career counseling "in the field."

The best way to promote positive behaviors is to promote positive attitudes. That's the key to a successful Envirothon. Teaching positive attitudes about the world around us has a ripple effect which spreads through communities and benefits the total environment.

Today's students are tomorrow's homeowners, consumers, and decision-makers. Teachers are faced with the critical job of preparing students to make the best choices about our natural resources. The Envirothon offers a unique approach to help teachers accomplish this task. Using current information on environmental issues, teachers can prepare students to make educated decisions about the world around them.

School Year

The Montana Competition

The National Competition

At the beginning of the school year, the resource committee and the teachers or advisors sit down to plan activities. (Field days, presentations, debates, classroom training, etc.) These "training" activities take place throughout the school year. They enhance the existing environmental education programs in high schools because they bring together natural resource professionals with teachers to offer expert, quality field work and ideas. Most materials are provided free of charge (refer to study guides on the page below).

Participation in the Envirothon is open to all students enrolled in grades 9-12 in public, private, vocational technical or home-school program. Five students make up a team.

Students are tested for their knowledge in five natural resource topics - Aquatics, Forestry, Rangeland, Soils, and Wildlife. At the Envirothon, students are given a current environmental issue (changes annually) and are challenged to share their solutions in an oral presentation. 

The state competition usually takes one-two days and is held in Lewistown the last full week of April.

In this competition, five hundred dollar ($500.00) cash is awarded for each First Place team member and three hundred dollar ($300.00) cash to each Highest Test Score team member. The same team cannot win both awards and prices.

The winning team from the Montana competition will go on to compete at the NCF-Envirothon each Summer where awards are offered for the 1st-10th place team.

NCF-Envirothon materials are provided by the host state or province.

The national Envirothon is a four-five day event where teams from each participating state/country work out the solution to an environmental program. There are also tours, campfires, night hikes, and other environmentally related activities available.