Coosa County 4-H’ers Dominate National Forestry Competition – Again

	Auburn, August 5, 2003 --- To the victors belong the spoils, and the spoils of 4-H 
forestry judging once again go to Alabama thanks to the hard work of four Coosa County 4-H 
team members.  The Coosa team captured the national championship at the 24th Annual National 
4-H Forestry Invitational, held July 27 through 31 in Weston, W.V.  

	The team was comprised of Amanda Luker and Emily Vines, both of Rockford, Holly 
Cordner of Sylacauga and Brittany Brown of Alexander City.  They competed against 15 other 
states during the grueling four-day event.  The competition was sponsored by International Paper 
Company Foundation and the Cooperative Extension Service.

              “Our team lived up to Alabama’s strong reputation in national competition,” observed 
Coosa County Extension Agent Roger Vines of Rockford, who, in addition to this year’s 
championship team, has coached numerous first-place teams in forestry and wildlife judging 
during his nearly 20-year Extension career.  

       Blake Kelly, also of Rockford, served as assistant coach.
	
       	The team, which earned a total 1680.5 points out of a possible 1900 points, enjoyed a 
53-point margin over second-place winner Pennsylvania and nearly 100 points over third-place 
West Virginia.  
	No other state in the nation has been able to match Alabama, which has amassed 12 
national championships in the 20-year history of forestry judging competition.
       Alabama teams have won the national forestry championship in eight out of the last nine 
years, Vines said.  2003 also marks the sixth consecutive year Coosa County teams have 
competed for either a forestry or wildlife judging national title.   All of these teams placed among 
the top three states.  Three of these teams secured national championships, one a reserve 
national championship.  

       	National championships, in fact, are nothing new to three members of the 2003 team –
Cordner, Luker and Vines – who served on the national wildlife judging team in 2001. 

          	The Alabama team also dominated individual scoring at this year’s event.  Cordner 
secured first place with a score of 451 out of a possible 500 points.   Luker, with a score of 428 
points, placed second, and Brown, who garnered 423 points, captured third place.  Vines placed 
ninth with a score of 407 points.

     	At the Invitational, students compete for overall team and individual awards in tree 
identification, tree measurement, forest health (forest entomology and forest pathology) compass 
traverse, topographic map use, forest evaluation and the Forestry Bowl, a fast-paced event 
fashioned after popular television quiz shows. 

       The International Paper Company Foundation, which co-sponsored the event, was 
founded in 1953 as a philanthropic grant-making organization.  It primarily addresses existing and 
emerging educational needs as well as civic needs within the communities where International 
Paper operates businesses. The Foundation also supports organizations where employees 
actively volunteer.

(Source: Roger Vines, Coosa County Extension Agent, 256-377-1553.)