Winners of a national essay contest will meet with Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell this week in Washington D.C.

Essays explaining the importance of public lands to today's youth were judged from around the country. Five winners from Montana, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wyoming and Virginia were chosen and will spend part of the week meeting with Jewell, their own congressional delegation and CEO's of some of the largest conservation organizations in the country.

“America's public lands are one of our nation's greatest treasures. I've worried that the loss of connection with our outdoor heritage imperils these lands,” said Brad Powell, senior policy director of the Sportsmen’s Conservation Project at Trout Unlimited. “Reading the essays of these young hunters and anglers gives me great hope that our public lands will be in good hands in the future."