LAKE SUCCESS, NEW YORK - A five-member team of high school students from Media, Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 17th annual 2005 Canon Envirothon. The winning team was announced Saturday, July 23, during closing ceremonies of the weeklong North American environmental education competition held at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.

At the Canon Envirothon, 250 teenage challengers from high schools and other organizations across the U.S. and Canada studied and competed on environmental issues and resource conservation, and received Canon scholarships and prizes that exceeded US$75,000 in value.

The first place Pennsylvania team received a total of US$25,000 in Canon scholarships along with photographic equipment for themselves and for their schools/organizations to use in science education. Texas (US$20,000 and equipment) and Delaware (US$15,000 and equipment) placed second and third, respectively. The fourth place team, Virginia, received US$10,000 and equipment. The fifth place team, Wisconsin, received US$5,000 and equipment. The list of schools/organizations finishing in the top 10 appears at the end of this announcement.

Student scholarships can be used toward a four-year university, a two-year college, or trade school. Scholarship funds are paid directly to the university, college, or other school of a student's choice.

Fifty teams, 43 from the U.S. and seven from Canada, competed in the 2005 Canon Envirothon, North America's largest high school environmental education competition. Organized through the National Association of Conservation Districts in the U.S. and The Canadian Forestry Association, the Canon Envirothon is the final competition in a series of contests beginning each spring that involve more than 500,000 teenagers throughout North America. For the first time this year, the program awarded diversity and underserved audience grants to seven states and one province to involve additional students in the competitions.

In written and field tests, and oral presentations, five-member teams from schools or organizations compete in preliminary rounds for the distinction of representing states and provinces at the Canon Envirothon. Key knowledge areas include soils/land use, forestry, aquatic ecology, wildlife and a current issue that changes annually. This year's current issue at Canon Envirothon addressed the management of cultural landscapes and focused on restoring the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield (U.S. Civil War) to its 1861 conditions.

Each team's knowledge was tested under the supervision of foresters, soil scientists and wildlife specialists. Teamwork, problem solving and oral presentation skills also were evaluated as each team offered a panel of judges an oral presentation containing recommendations for solving the environmental challenges at Wilson's Creek.

The 2006 competition will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the 2007 competition will be held in Geneva, New York.

This is the ninth year the competition has been sponsored by Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ). Canon delivers consumer, business-to-business and industrial imaging solutions. Canon works to protect the environment through its award-winning Clean Earth Campaign that encompasses development of energy-efficient office products, equipment remanufacturing and materials reuse, as well as the protection of endangered species and environmental education through its corporate philanthropy and employee volunteerism.

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The top 10 teams at the 2005 Canon Envirothon:

First Place: Penncrest High School, Media, Pennsylvania
Second Place: The John Cooper School, Woodlands, Texas
Third Place: Wilmington Charter School, Wilmington, Delaware
Fourth Place: Fort Defiance High School, Fort Defiance, Virginia
Fifth Place: Conserve School, Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin
Sixth Place: High Technical High School, North Bergen, New Jersey
Seventh Place: Chardon High School, Chardon, Ohio
Eighth Place: Litchfield High School, Litchfield, Connecticut
Ninth Place: Candor High School, Candor, New York
Tenth Place: School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley, Minnesota

Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2005, with global revenues of $31.8 billion. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

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