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The National Association of Conservation Districts determines the annual stewardship theme. This year's theme is "Where does your water shed?."
A watershed is an area of land that drains to a particular body of water, such as a river or a lake. Rain or any type of precipitation that falls anywhere in that watershed eventually flows to a body of water. The water may travel over land as surface water or flow underground as ground water.
The annual conservation poster contest provides kindergarteners through twelfth graders with an opportunity to share their thoughts about water and related natural resource issues. Posters are evaluated on the following criteria: conservation message, originality, visual effectiveness, and universal appeal.
Click here to view 2012's winning posters.
As a poster wins first place in a contest, it proceeds to the next level contest as listed below:
- Local contest
- Area contest
- State contest
- National contest
Alex Sainz and Supervisor Peggy Belflower.
TOPIC: Where does your water shed?
Lake Soil and Water Conservation District sponsors the annual contest, which is designed to develop
leadership and stimulate interest in conserving natural resources. Twenty-two speeches were submitted and eight were chosen to be given orally on November 29, 2012.
The speeches were scored on content, composition, delivery and time criteria by judges: Linda Bystrak, Lake County Water Authority; Suzy Daubert, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service; and Cathie Catasus, Lake County Public Works/Water Resource Management Laboratory and member of the Lake Toasters Toastmasters Club.
Alex Sainz, a seventh grade student at Lake Montessori and Learning Institute, won first place. Skylar Baumann, a tenth grade student at Eustis High, won second place and Bailey Stephens, a sixth grade student at Spring Creek Charter School, won third place.
The Association of Florida Conservation Districts determines the annual topic. The first place winner proceeds to the Area contest, and if first place, will advance to the State contest.
Click here to view 2012's speech contestants.
 High School Winners - Thunder Zucchini
 Middle School Winners - Live Diamondbacks
The tenth annual Lake Regional Envirothon was
held on Feb. 21, 2013 with 22
teams from Lake County. Middle and High School
students gathered at the Hickory Point Recreational
Facility in Tavares to compete in a natural resources
education event, which includes a written exam and
hands-on investigations.
The five-member teams are led by an advisor in
studying prepared resource materials on aquatics,
forestry, wildlife, soils and a selected current environmental
issue, which for 2013 was "Sustainable Rangeland Management: Achieving a balance between traditional agricultural uses with non-agricultural uses in Florida."
High School Division
1st Place: "Thunder Zucchini" - Advisor Betsy Farner, Tavares High School
2nd Place: "Perpetual Predators" - Advisor Betsy Farner, Tavares HighSchool
3rd Place: "Flaming Acorns" - Advisor Tessa Clark, Leesburg High School
Middle School Division
1st Place: "Live Diamondbacks" - Advisor Kimberly Patterson, Lake Montessori & Learning Institute
2nd Place: "Pedological Nematodes" - Advisor Katrina Palmer, Lake Preparatory School
3rd Place: "Squishy Epidermis" - Advisor Kimberly Patterson, Lake Montessori & Learning Institute
The top scoring high school team is eligible to compete in the Florida Envirothon at Hillsborough River State Park on April 27, 2013.
The annual Land Judging competition was held on March 8, 2012, at Lake May Reserve, a Lake County public lands property outside of Eustis. The Lake Soil & Water Conservation District invited middle and high school students in Future Farmers of America to test their knowledge by judging soils from four pits that were selected by Manuel Matos, Soil Scientist with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Participants mark individual scorecards for evaluation of soil characteristics and how they relate to farming, range management, and homesite construction. The skills the teens use at the contest involve principles that can be valuable in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resources conservation, home building, engineering, and construction.
The first place middle and high school teams competed in the State Land Judging competition in Reddick, Marion County on March 30, 2012.
The next Land Judging Contest is scheduled for March 7, 2013
High School Division
1st place - East Ridge High School Team A
2nd place - East Ridge High School Team B
3rd place - Umatilla High School FFA
Middle School Division
1st place - Clermont Middle School Team A
2nd place - Clermont Middle School Team B
High School Individual High Score
1st place - Savannah Olson, East Ridge High School Team A
2nd place - Miranda Bartlett, East Ridge High School Team A
3rd place - Luke Caudill, East Ridge High School Team A
Middle School Individual High Score
1st place - Kyle Garner, Clermont Middle School Team B
2nd place - Drew Mendoza, Clermont Middle School Team A
3rd place - Chris Brown, Clermont Middle School Team A
 The Lake Soil & Water Conservation District, in partnership with the Florida Forestry Service, gave away 2,500 bare-root trees, at the Lake County Agricultural Center in Tavares, on Saturday January 19, 2013.
Each person was allowed one tree, approximately 10-20 inches, of each available variety:
Dogwood, Green Ash, Live Oak, Common Persimmon, Chickasaw Plum and Slash Pine.
Click here for descriptions and care instructions for the trees being given away at the 2013 Annual Tree Giveaway.
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