The South Dakota FFA Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of five $100 scholarships for students placing first in each of the three SD Regional Range Evaluation Competitions this fall. This year’s scholarship recipients are: Jimmy Burma, Sunshine Bible Academy; Molly Harty, Philip; Hayes Christensen, Wessington Springs; Sam Handberg, West Central; and Caleb Gaikowski, Webster/Waubay.
Jimmy Burma.
Courtesy photo.
Molly Harty.
Courtesy photo.
The scholarships are designed to encourage and reward students’ accomplishments in the field of range management. Scholarships are made possible by a contribution to the SD FFA Foundation from LeRoy and Cathie Draine of Rapid City. “These scholarships represent a good combination of three important beliefs: first, our respect for the integrity of the land, our soils and water; second, the imperative to provide educational opportunities for understanding and the wise use and care of the land; and third, faith in the process of developing knowledgeable custodians for the future,” said Cathie Draine.
The Range Evaluation Competition, hosted by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, SDSU Extension and the US Forest Service, provides students insight into the basic tools used in land stewardship, which is the application of ecological principles and historically significant disturbance such as grazing. Contest objectives are to teach participants some of the principles of ecology including soil/plant relationships, plant/animal relationships, and plant succession as applied to management of the land resource. Beef cattle and grouse have been chosen to demonstrate the concept of habitat evaluation. Both species are ecologically and economically important and their relationship to different stages of plant succession is well known.
LeRoy and Cathie Draine are proud to support Agricultural Education and the FFA’s mission to make a difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. For more information about the South Dakota FFA Foundation and South Dakota’s FFA programs, visit www.sdffafoundation.org.
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