Minnesota Students Enjoy Environmental Fair 

students at the 14th annual Environmental Fair at the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Marshall, Minnesota, participate in a table interactive display to learn more about soils and the environment in which they live and go to school

NRCS; the Southwest Minnesota Association of Conservation District Employees; and a number of local, State, and Federal organizations joined together to provide over 2,000 students from a 14-county area in southwest Minnesota a day of environmental learning.  The Lyon County Fairgrounds in Marshall was the setting for the 14th annual Environmental Fair organized to raise students' awareness of the environment and wise use of our natural resources through hands-on activities and presentations along with an opportunity to see, touch, and sometimes even taste what they were learning about. Topics covered included trees, soils, water quality, wetlands, native prairie, recycling, watersheds, and the creatures that inhabit the environment. Many came home to tell parents they “wore” a snake, walked around inside of a whale, learned about glaciers -- and then ate them, or got kissed by a blue-tongued lizard!

Each year, soil and water conservation districts provide staff and funding for the environmental fair.  Additional financial support was received from local businesses and organization from the participating counties.

Your contact is Julie MacSwain, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 651-602-7859

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