Quick hits: Woolly mammoth found in Iowa; rural firefighters get a movie; check out agrivoltaics; Friday's civic games

Audience members at lasts year's Wisconsin Civics Games State
Championship at the State Capitol. (Photo by Julia Hunter, WNA)

The finals are tomorrow! Students from 13 high schools across the Dairy State will compete in the Wisconsin Civics Games state finals.. "Fifteen teams, each comprising up to four students, will face off in head-to-head matchups, answering questions about the state budget, local elections, legislative term limits, quorums, freedom of the press and other civics-related issues," reports Julia Hunter of, whose foundation sponsors the games/ "Each member of the winning team will receive a $2,000 scholarship to a Wisconsin college or university. . . .The games will be broadcast on WisconsinEye, and are expected to begin around 9 a.m. and conclude at approximately 3 p.m. . . . The WNA Foundation launched the Wisconsin Civics Games in 2018 in response to declining civics education and participation."

•

"Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat" is a new documentary about rural firefighters. "While the population is increasing, the number of volunteer firefighters is dwindling rapidly," reports Joelle Orem of The Scoop. "John Deere and the National Volunteer Fire Council recognize the deficit and have partnered to educate and recruit volunteer firefighters to the call through the film. . . . The idea for the film came from the rich heritage of community partnership. . . . Farmers and firefighters often work hand in hand to respond to emergency calls for service during snow and thunderstorms. Visit oddhoursfilm.com to watch the teaser."

•

Older trees absorb and store carbon, but carbon isn't the only concern with older forests. "More than 60 percent of the trees managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management make up mature or old-growth forest. . . . A first-of-its-kind census shows that the two agencies are stewards of 112.8 million acres of mature and old-growth trees," Marianne Lavelle of Inside Climate News reports. "But it remains to be seen whether those rules will lead to greater protection for mature and old-growth stands on public lands, as some environmentalists have called for, or for more logging, thinning and prescribed burning by the Forest Service to control wildfire, disease and other climate-related threats."

•

Does green energy always have to compete with land needs? Maybe not. Some Wisconsin researchers are looking at ways for the two have a more symbiotic relationship. "'Agrivoltaics,' the use of land for both agriculture and solar power, was at the center of a panel with a regulator and researchers recently hosted by the University of Wisconsin," reports Joe Schulz of Wisconsin Public Radio. . . . "The panel explored potential trade-offs between renewable energy and agriculture."

•

Summertime can be glorious, but it can also be time to find a summer job. For rural young adults, there are quite a few options out there, reports Money magazine. "It’s helpful to start with a simple job so you can earn money and gain experience just from the added responsibility. . . . Instead of looking for available jobs, you can create your own. Offering yard work services is a great way to make your opportunities and serve your community." People with pets may be vacationing away from home and farm. If your familiar with rural animal or pet care, this could be a flexible, fun money maker.

•

The woolly mammoth was an adult male in its mid 40s, 6-7 tons in weight, and
13 to 14 feet tall at the shoulder. (Photo by Daryl Marshke, University of Michigan)

Not every day do you find a 15,000-year-old animal skeleton in Iowa. "Of all the tiny spots in a sea of soybeans, Jim Bristle and Trent Satterthwaite hit the honey hole," reports Chris Bennett of Farm Journal. "When the pair of Midwest farmers dropped a backhoe bucket 8' below mature beans and felt the machinery groan and shift, they struck a massive, prehistoric beast hidden in blue clay and released the creature from a 15,000-year sleep. . . . Farmland is the vault of the unseen, and Bristle and Satterthwaite made one of the most unlikely scientific discoveries of the 21st century—a woolly mammoth skeleton alongside three telltale boulders."

•

Rebecca the alpaca and her "fiber."
(H.L. Barnes, Successful Farming)

Experimental, whimsical, classic---domestically sourced fashion-fiber can be fabulous and expensive. "According to the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Americans spend more than 250 million dollars on fashion and accessories every year," reports Heather Lifsey Barnes of Successful Farming. "With the demand for local fiber growing, agriculture is positioned to partner with these influencers and connect them with how fiber is grown and raised." To give educators industry know-how, some North Caroline high and middle school teachers "Toured an alpaca farm, which gave teachers a hands-on look at the fiber growing on its source. At Venezia Dream Farm, owner Star Cash raises alpaca for their fiber. . . .Cash went to school to learn how to grade the fibers."