Anna Vines Awarded Youth Conservationist of the Year

Anna Vines of Sylacauga was recently presented the Youth Conservationist of the Year Award by the Alabama Wildlife Federation. The award was presented during the 2008 Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards banquet sponsored by the Alabama Power Company. Other sponsors included PowerSouth and First South Farm Credit.

The AWF Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards (GCAA) are the most
prestigious conservation honor in the state of Alabama. For the past 30 years, the AWF has presented these awards to individuals and organizations that make great contributions to the conservation of Alabama's wildlife and related natural resources.

Anna Vines has a great love of the outdoors and an appreciation for the value of our abundant natural resources. She has a keen interest and admiration for conservation and it shows on her family's tree farm in Coosa County. Whether it be planting food plots, monitoring and harvesting crawfish, clearing trails or feeding the farm animals, Vines has played an integral part in the farm's success - a success story that was recognized two years ago with the State Mosley Memorial TREASURE Forest Award.

In addition to her work on the farm, Vines has been involved in 4-H since she was in the fourth grade. Although she has participated in almost all the 4-H contests and events, she has performed exceptionally well in her favorite 4-H programs - forestry and wildlife judging.

In 2005, Vines and her teammates won the State 4-H Forestry Judging Competition and represented Alabama at the national event in West Virginia. She was the captain of the Quiz Bowl Team and helped lead her team to victory. The Coosa County Forestry Judging Team returned home as National Champions, with Vines placing second in the nation in Individual Overall Scoring.

In 2007, Vines and her teammates won the State 4-H Wildlife Judging Competition and headed to Utah for the national event. Again, even in an area and habitat very different from Alabama, they brought home the National Championship title, beating the Utah team on their own turf and defeating 19 teams from other states. Vines took first place in the nation with the Highest Overall Individual Score.

The GCAA was created to promote leadership by example and in turn increase conservation of natural resources in Alabama including its wildlife, forests, soils, water and air. The program is designed to bring about a greater knowledge and awareness of conservation practices and projects and to give proper recognition to those persons and organizations that make outstanding contributions to the natural resource welfare of their
community and state.

The Alabama Wildlife Federation, established by sportsmen in 1935, is the state's oldest and largest citizens' conservation organization. The mission of the AWF, a 501(c)3 nonprofit group supported by membership dues and donations, is to promote conservation and wise use of Alabama's wildlife and related natural resources as a basis for economic and social prosperity. To learn more about the AWF, including membership details, programs and projects, contact the AWF at (800) 822-WILD or visit www.alabamawildlife.org or .

Posted by dreynold at September 3, 2008 03:39 PM | TrackBack