Youth Conservation Poster Contest

Calumet County sponsors an annual Conservation Poster Contest. Students in grades K through 12 can participate. The contest provides an opportunity for young people to become more aware of the conservation of our natural resources through artistic design. Winners receive an award and a chance to compete at the Lake Winnebago Land and Water Conservation Association, and possibly the state-wide competition held in March.

2023/2024 Theme: "May the Forest Be With You"

Entries are DUE DECEMBER 22, 2023


All posters must be 14 inches by 22 inches or 12 inches by 18 inches and have the theme "May the Forest Be With You Always" on the Poster. Posters will be judged on conservation message, visual effectiveness, originality and visual appeal.  To learn more about forestry health, please used the resources found further down. Each entry must include an entry form attached to the pack of the poster. Please complete and print off the 2023 entry form (PDF).

2024PosterContestTheme

For Parents/ Guardians

If your student wishes to participate in the local contest, please email Dani Santry as soon as possible. Entries are due December 22nd, 2023, and can be mailed or dropped off to our office:
Land & Water Conservation Department
206 Court Street
Room 227
Chilton, WI 53014

Posters should be packaged so they remain flat while sent to our office.

For Teachers

If you wish to incorporate the poster contest into your classroom curriculum, you may have each student complete a poster. Email Dani Santry for more details and arrange for staff to pick up the posters. While this is a free event, please contact our office if supply cost is an issue but you have students who would like to participate. Posters should be packaged so they remain flat while sent to our office.


Resources for Students, Teachers and Families

Project Learning Tree - provides lots of free activities/lessons about forests, including some great ones below:

  • The Forest of S.T. Shrew  An activity that involves reading a fun, short story about a shrew living in the forest.  Theme: forest floor ecosystems and microhabitats.
  • The Fallen Log  In this activity, kids become familiar with some of those organisms by observing fallen logs. They’ll gain an understanding of how decomposition takes place and a better appreciation for micro-habitats and communities.
  • Name That Tree  Provides resources, including phone apps to help identify trees you may find along a hike. 
  • Tree Cookies  Examine tree cross-sections to determine their age and to infer environmental conditions during the tree’s life. In this activity, learners examine cross-sections of trees and infer from a tree’s growth rings what environmental conditions it might have experienced.
  • Every Tree For Itself  Through an active modeling exercise, learners explore how trees compete with each other for nutrients, sunlight, space, and water. In this activity, learners model how trees compete to meet their essential needs and describe how varying amounts of light, water, and nutrients affect tree growth.
  • Nature's Skyscrapers  Using simple tools, learners calculate the height of a tree and width of its trunk, and find out why foresters measure trees. In this activity, learner develop an understanding of tree measurements. and measure trees in a systematic, consistent way.
  • Seeking Sustainability  Sustainable forest management ensures attention to natural processes and goal-oriented decisions and actions to achieve a variety of desired outcomes, including ecological (e.g., wildlife habitat), economic (e.g., timber production) and social (e.g., recreation) outcomes. Many outcomes are interrelated and are often managed simultaneously.
  • Who Works in This Forest  The forest sector generates diverse employment opportunities including foresters, natural resource managers, scientists, harvesting professionals, truckers, factory workers, engineers, architects, wildland firefighters, carbon modelers, and many more.
  • Trees in Trouble  Healthy trees need sunlight, water, nutrients, and room to grow. Learners assess trees for signs of their health. In this activity, learners will recognize symptoms of unhealthy trees and assess possible causes of a tree’s poor health.
  • What is a Forest?
  • Why Forests Matter?


Past Themes and Resources 


Northeast Wisconsin:  Check out how you can make impacts with small changes at renewourwaters.org  Every. Choice. Counts.  For volunteer opportunities or to learn more about projects aimed at improving the waters of the Fox-Wolf Basin and Bay of Green Bay, head over to https://fwwa.org/. 

Lakeshore Area: No matter where you live, you live in a watershed. The Lakehore Natural Resource Partnership's "We all live on the Water" programing focuses on how we all can make impacts on local water resources.  Visit https://www.lnrp.org/ to find out more. 

Milwaukee Area:  MMSD began the "OneWaterOurWater" program in 2021.  Learn more about water and how we live, play, and work with water.  https://www.onewaterourwater.com/learn


What is Healthy Soil? Teacher Resource Presentation - A powerpoint that includes slides and resources for teachers. Please download after clicking on the link to open the file. 

K-12 Appropriate

Middle & High School Age Appropriate:

Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities (2021 Theme)

Elementary School Age Appropriate:

K-12 Appropriate

Where Would We Be Without Pollinators? (2020 Theme)

Elementary School Age Appropriate:

K-12 Appropriate

What is a Watershed (2018 Theme)

Elementary School Age Appropriate:

Middle & High School Age Appropriate:

The posters will be judged by local conservation professionals and county supervisors.