Land Judging Contest 2008 (Pre-Event)

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National Land & Range Contest Brings U. S. Teens To Oklahoma

Approximately 1,000 teenagers from across the nation will come to Oklahoma City next week, as they have the first week of May for over five decades, to compete in a national educational competition. The National Land and Range Judging Contest, a three-day event that stresses soil and plant science, land management and conservation, begins for the 57th year on Monday, May 5. After two days of opportunity to visit practice sites, the event will culminate on Wednesday, May 7, with the contest at a site whose location is kept secret until that morning, followed in the evening by an awards banquet at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Gov. Brad Henry has issued a Governor’s Proclamation naming May 7, 2008, as “National Land and Range Day in Oklahoma.” (See the text of the proclamation below and a link to an image file of the proclamation.)

The teens, 4-H and FFA members, qualify for the national event by placing among the top five teams at contests in their home states, according to contest cochairman Scotty Herriman. Herriman is president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, one of the contest's principal sponsors. He says the teens match their skills in judging the adaptability of the land for various purposes including farming, range management and home development. He notes the skills the teens apply at the contest involve principles they can apply in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resource conservation, homebuilding and construction.

Herriman notes the idea of a land judging contest was invented by three Oklahoma conservationists in 1942. They decided which soil qualities could be judged and developed score cards to test skills. The idea caught on and Oklahoma City has been hosting the national contest since 1952.
As soon as the contestants arrive today they will go to a practice site near Oklahoma City where numerous pits have been dug to give them a chance to analyze and learn more about Oklahoma soil conditions.

The actual contest sites will remain secret until just before each contest, so no one has an unfair advantage. Herriman says contestants will gather at the Biltmore Hotel to register, receive procedural instructions and await disclosure of the official contest sites. Coaches and contestants will then travel in a caravan to the site that is a tract of land in or near the greater metro area. The Land Judging Contest and the Homesite Evaluation Contest will begin at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, followed by the Range Judging contest at 9:30 a.m.

The event will end with an awards ceremony Wednesday night in the Great Hall of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. National championship trophies will be awarded to team and individual winners in each category of competition including land judging, range judging, and homesite evaluation.

Text of Governor Brad Henry's Proclamation

Governor’s Proclamation

Land and Range Judging Day in Oklahoma

Whereas, we are ethically bound to care for the natural resources that sustain our life; and

Whereas, people everywhere are reliant on the quality of the soil for production of food and fiber to feed and clothe them; and

Whereas, it is incumbent on each generation to learn from preceding generations and to pass on to following generations an ethic and practice of appreciation and stewardship of our natural resources; and

Whereas, the National Land and Range Judging Contest provides students with opportunities to learn about soil and plant resources; and

Whereas, since 1952 approximately one thousand students, members of FFA and 4-H Chapters from throughout the United States, have come to Oklahoma in the first week of May to participate in the National Land and Range Judging Contest, now in its 57th year;

Now Therefore, I, Brad Henry, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim May 7, 2008, as Land and Range Judging Day in the State of Oklahoma.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma to be affixed.

Done at the Capitol, in the City of Oklahoma City, this 17th day of April, in the Year of Our Lord two thousand and eight, and of the State of Oklahoma in the one-hundredth year.

Brad Henry, Governor
M. Susan Savage, Secretary of State

(Click here for a printable version of the Governor's Proclamation)