To: WHEP Team Coaches
Volunteers & Agents interested in learning more about WHEP
This is it… The Official announcement of the VA State 4-H Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) Contest.
The contest will be held on Saturday October 11, 10:00 a.m. at Holliday Lake State Park in Appomattox. VA (specific location and directions will be sent to those who register teams or register as a visitor). Registration is due no later than Friday, October 3. There will be a cost of $4.00 per car to enter the State Park.
The contest region will be Eastern Deciduous Forest. However, for the species ID portion of the contest, species found in the Urban and Wetlands regions may also be used. Contestants should be familiar with those species for identification purposes. Please refer to the NEW 2014 WHEP Manual as posted at www.whep.org for the most current information which will be used for this contest. There has been a significant change in the manual and contest format.
Contestants, parents, volunteers and anyone else attending must bring their own lunch, snacks, water and chair. Please dress appropriately for the weather. We will be outside regardless of the weather.

1. Beginner Division – first or second year youth who have never competed in a state WHEP contest. Primarily designed for juniors (ages 9-13).

This division will include:
A. Wildlife Challenge – combines wildlife identification and general knowledge. Participants visit stations where they may be presented with a wildlife specimen and questions related to the species. Participants may be asked to identify an animal by specimen or portion of specimen, photo, animal sign, or sound. Alternatively, stations may be located outdoors and questions may be related to various habitat features. Questions for the Wildlife Challenge may be from information within Concepts and Terms, Ecoregions, Wildlife Species, Wildlife Management Practices, and the Glossary.
B. A guided session related to plan writing and wildlife management practices.
C. A hands on field work activity (such as, but not limited to a scavenger hunt for wildlife foods, or building a habitat for a given wildlife species)

2. Junior Division – Full competition for youth ages 9-13. They must have a team of 3 or 4 members to be eligible to compete in the full contest. Individual juniors may compete, however they will only be eligible for the individual awards.

This division will include:
A. Wildlife Challenge – combines wildlife identification and general knowledge. Participants visit stations where they may be presented with a wildlife specimen and questions related to the species. Participants may be asked to identify an animal by specimen or portion of specimen, photo, animal sign, or sound. Alternatively, stations may be located outdoors and questions may be related to various habitat features. When identifying species in the Wildlife Challenge, the correct spelling and capitalization must be used in order to receive credit. Refer to Index of Wildlife Species pages 86-88 for proper spelling and capitalization. Questions for the Wildlife Challenge may be from information within Concepts and Terms, Ecoregions, Wildlife Species, Wildlife Management Practices, and the Glossary. Wildlife food items and questions pertaining to wildlife foods also may be included. Appendix B provides definitions of various wildlife foods. Refer to species descriptions to learn what various species eat.
B. Wildlife Quiz Bowl (the wildlife version of jeopardy) is a fun and exciting event. Teams of 3 – 4 members will compete against each other answering questions which may come from the EASTERN DECIDUOUS FOREST Wildlife Species, EASTERN DECIDUOUS FOREST Region Information, Wildlife Management Practices, Concepts and Terms and the Glossary. This will be a two round competition. Round 1 will be head to head and Round 2 will be toss-up.
C. A guided session related to plan writing and wildlife management practices.

3. Seniors – Full competition for youth ages 14-19. They must have a team of 3 or 4 members to be eligible to compete in the full contest. Individual seniors may compete, however they will only be eligible for the individual awards.

This division will include:
A. Wildlife Challenge – combines wildlife identification and general knowledge. Participants visit stations where they may be presented with a wildlife specimen and questions related to the species. Participants may be asked to identify an animal by specimen or portion of specimen, photo, animal sign, or sound. Alternatively, stations may be located outdoors and questions may be related to various habitat features. When identifying species in the Wildlife Challenge, the correct spelling and capitalization must be used in order to receive credit. Refer to Index of Wildlife pages 86-88 for proper spelling and capitalization. Questions for the Wildlife Challenge may be from information within Concepts and Terms, Ecoregions, Wildlife Species, Wildlife Management Practices, and the Glossary. Wildlife food items and questions pertaining to wildlife foods also may be included. Appendix B provides definitions of various wildlife foods. Refer to species accounts to learn what various species eat.
B. On-Site Recommendation of Wildlife Management Practices (WMPs) – involves the recommendation of WMPs necessary to manage wildlife and habitat on a given site. Management recommendations should consider each species listed separately and WMPs should be recommended as if each species was the only species (focal species) considered on the site. Refer to the WMP charts in the Ecoregions section. This is an individual activity, so no talking or collaboration among team members is allowed.
C. Written Management Plan – is a team event where team members discuss, consider, and provide written recommendations that address current conditions and objectives regarding wildlife populations and habitat on a specified property. A written scenario describing the property, current conditions, and landowner objectives is provided to teams prior to starting the activity. All plans must be written using paragraph format. Teams may use one side of each of three pieces of paper provided. Two of these sheets are for writing the plan, and the third sheet is for sketching a map of the property illustrating where practices should be implemented. An aerial photo of the area may be provided to assist with the sketch.
D. Oral Defense of Written Plan – each team member will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of the plan. Team members are called individually into an area where they are asked a series of questions to test the individual’s knowledge of the team’s plan. Questions can cover anything related to the plan, the focal species, or management practices recommended.

The new 2014 manual that will be used for this contest is on the web at www.whep.org. Please refer to this version of the manual ONLY. Please also note that pages 86-88 have the official listing of the correct spelling and capitalization that will be used as the key for the wildlife ID portion of the contest.

To register for the state contest, please Kelly Mallory (malloryk@vt.edu) the following information no later than Friday, October 3rd. Here is the REGISTRATION LINK: http://tinyurl.com/WHEP2014

Counties may send as many teams and/or individuals as they like. Individuals from different counties may be combined at the contest to make teams.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kelly Mallory
Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development
VCE-Madison
P.O. Box 10, Madison, VA 22727
Phone (540)948-6881
FAX (540)948-6883
Email: malloryk@vt.edu
http://madison4h.pbworks.com
Madison 4-H News
We are located on Main Street in the War Memorial Building, 2nd Floor
http://www.intra.ext.vt.edu/marketing/images/4H-Folder/centennial/VCEExtClrWeb.jpg