Tennessee took top honors at the National 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Contest near Cedar City earlier this month.
Georgia came in second, followed by Colorado, Florida and Alabama.The Utah team of Kari Smith, Jessie Kirkendall, Kelly Cornforth and Ben Peterson placed eighth.
According to Terry Messmer, Utah State University wildlife specialist and contest coordinator, teams from 30 states competed in five categories designed to teach responsible management of our natural resources.
4-H participants were asked to identify common wildlife foods, interpret wildlife habitat from aerial photographs, prescribe wildlife management practices and develop both rural and urban wildlife management plans.
Utah is a unique area to study because it contains all five of the most common wildlife management zones: hot desert, mountain, alpine, cold desert and pinyon/ juniper, Messmer said.