Tennessee placed third among 10 states that competed in the 44th annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from Sunday July 21 through Wednesday July 24. The invitational was held at West Virginia University Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp and Conference Center near Weston, West Virginia. The event was sponsored by Farm Credit, Green Diamond Resource Company, Society of American Foresters, Southern Regional Extension Forestry, F and W Forestry, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and West Virginia University Extension.
While at the Invitational 4-H members competed for overall team and individual awards in several categories. Events included tree identification, tree measurement, compass and pacing, insect and disease identification, topographic map use, forest evaluation, the forestry bowl and a written forestry exam.
The Tennessee team members were Easton Bibbings, Emmy Bibbings, Gabe Harville, and Owen Meeks. The team coaches were Carson Meeks and Rachel Petty. All of the team members are Smith County residents and 4-H members.
4-H is a youth education program operated by the Cooperative Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the state land grant universities. More than six million youth, 540,000 volunteers, and 3,500 professionals participate in 4-H nationwide, and nearly 100,000 are part of the 4-H Forestry Program. 
