The Seneca Valley team won the Butler County Envirothon on May 1 at Alameda Park. Front, from left, Graham Bitzer, Sydney Rasp, Sarah Francino, Katie Maloney and Madeleine Burr. Rear, Ryan Harr, watershed and nutrient management specialist with the Butler County Conservation District, Sheryl Kelly, Butler County Recycling Coordinator, teacher Dana Hadley, and Wildlife Conservation Officer Randy Pilarcik of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

A team of students from Seneca Valley High School won the annual Butler County Envirothon May 1 at Alameda Park. A total of 25 teams participated.

The Envirothon is designed to give students the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate their knowledge of environmental resources and the relationships between resources and human activities.

The goal of the Envirothon program is to help students become environmentally knowledgeable citizens who are willing to work toward achieving a balance between the quality of life and quality of the environment.

The program emphasizes the importance of environmental sensitivity while stressing a need to achieve a social, ecological and economic balance.

The students were challenged in forestry, aquatics, wildlife, soils and other topics.

Tests were conducted by personnel from the Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Butler County Recycling Department and the Butler County Conservation District.

The winning Seneca Valley team is led by teacher Dana Hadley.

Seneca Valley will represent Butler County in the state Envirothon May 22 and 23 at Johnstown.

Ron Fodor is manager of the Butler County Conservation District.