Local youth wins regional conservation-themed poster contest

Lori Bertram and fellow commissioners with the Winnebago Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) congratulate Joey Murra for being selected as second-third grade Regional Winner of the “2024 Conservation Districts of Iowa Poster Contest” in Region 3, which includes 12 North-central Iowa counties.
The theme for the 2024 contest was “May the Forest Be With You Always.” The annual art contest is co-sponsored in Iowa by the Conservation Districts of Iowa (CDI), Grinnell Mutual, and by local Soil and Water Conservation Districts across the state. For his winning entry, Joey—a student at Great Acres Academy—receives a $35 award from Grinnell Mutual.
The CDI Poster contest is a colorful way for Iowa youth who wish to turn their artistic talents toward promoting conservation and sustainability practices in their home state. The contest starts at the district level; winners advance to the regional and state level, and then to the national level, where they receive recognition at the National Association of Conservation District’s (NACD) annual meeting.
NACD provides students from kindergarten through 12th grade the chance to have their art displayed as part of a national conservation outreach initiative. The Stewardship and Education Committee developed a five-year rotation for stewardship topics–water, soil, habitat, forestry, and a topic of interest–and determines the theme each year. Winning posters reflect NACD’s annual Stewardship theme and highlight the work of local conservation districts and their state conservation associations, auxiliaries, and agencies to protect and enhance natural resources.
The poster contest is open to public, private and home-schooled students. The top three posters in each category of the national contest receive monetary prizes.
To learn more, log on to the Conservation Districts of Iowa webpage: www.cdiowa.org/get-involved/poster-contest.