Connect to nature in the regional parks
Nature centers inspire visitors to discovery
A small olive-brown bird is untangled from an extremely fine, nearly invisible net and put in a small cloth drawstring bag.
Moments later, back at a table covered with various tools and notebooks, a volunteer reaches into the bag. She carefully grasps the bird and places its head between her index and middle finger. Amazingly, the bird stays calm as she draws it out of the bag.
A volunteer measures the wing feathers of a sparrow to help determine its gender.
Soon the bird has a tiny metal band around its leg. (The numeric information on the band goes into a national database that tracks where and when each bird was caught.) The bird’s wings are measured, feathers examined, and its species, gender and age determined, if possible.
And then, the bird is released.
All this is accomplished as dozens of energetic youngsters and teens jostle to watch and help the half dozen adult volunteers at the September bird-banding event at Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park Reserve.
Introducing families to nature
Bird banding is just one of dozens of activities that are held at nature centers in the regional parks system each year. While all parks feature self-guided activities like hiking, boating and skiing, nature centers in the parks play a special role in educating and inspiring visitors.
“We often serve as an introduction point to nature for children and parents, a place where they can become comfortable with the outdoors,” explained Allison Neaton, director of Lowry Nature Center near Victoria in Carver County. As the oldest public nature center in the metro region, Lowry has a four-decade history of hosting school groups from the urban core.
The Visitor Center at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Dakota County draws in people before they enjoy a hike in the park.
Today, many children don’t have regular access to any spaces that are even remotely wild, Neaton said. “We provide a guided experience that can help bridge that gap for a lot of kids.
“And it’s not just the kids,” she continued. “Many parents are just as afraid when they get out of sight of buildings and landmarks they are familiar with.”
Research points to benefits of interaction with nature
Mary Vidas, director of Tamarack Nature Center in Ramsey County’s Bald Eagle/Otter Lakes Regional Park, cites a growing body of research showing that direct interaction with nature is essential for healthy child development and for the physical and emotional health of people of all ages.
“We can show there’s an increase in test scores when kids spend time outdoors,” Vidas said. “Studies have shown that a 10-minute walk in a park lessens symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactive disorders. Ten minutes! The research is very affirming of yet another reason why it is important that we preserve green space.”
Vidas sees several roles for nature centers in the park system:
- Inspiration. “Our role is to help people discover the beauty and wonder of the natural world in which we live, and inspire people to look for things they might not otherwise notice when they are outdoors.”
- Education. Nature centers can help “pull the curtain back to show the inner workings of ecological systems and provide context for new information and knowledge we’ve collected along the way.”
- Connection. The way we design nature center buildings can help foster people’s connections with nature, Vidas said. “Incorporating environmentally friendly materials and using sustainable design principles is all a part of our work. Buildings should be designed to welcome you in and propel you back outside to enjoy the natural environment.”
- A sense of place. “We want to help people develop a sense that the park is ‘their place’ – their nature home, if you will. Besides the geographic connection, we look to foster belonging and a sense of authentic human attachment to wild spaces,” she said.
Allison Neaton said that fostering the human/nature connection also helps encourage stewardship of the parks and of natural lands in general. “As people become connected to a place they become an advocate for its preservation,” she said.
Parents and children can learn together at nature centers. At Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Regional Park Reserve, families learn about traditional tools used by indigenous people during the maple sap harvest.
Many kids are more “eco-savvy”
One of the challenges for nature centers today is that many young people are more “eco-savvy” than in the past, said Lisa Gilliland, director of Wargo Nature Center in the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Reserve. “We’ve had to change our programming to keep up with their education.” The center has introduced team-building activities that help children work together in the outdoors.
Wargo is “changing and growing as the community is changing and growing,” Gilliland added. “We’re designing our programs to make them more relevant to people’s daily lives.” For example, the center is developing an “eco-friendly” landscape garden as a resource for visitors who want to do something similar in their own backyards, and also offers a class on backyard landscaping for wildlife.
Recreational programming has grown, too, Gilliland said. “We could be full all summer long with our kayaking programs.”
Creating community gathering spaces
Nature centers are increasingly being used as community gathering places, for what Vidas calls “nature-nourished engagement.” Many regional parks are incorporating meeting areas into their facilities. This year, Dakota County opened the Schaar’s Bluff Gathering Center at Spring Lake Park Reserve. The large meeting room features a panoramic view of the Mississippi River near Hastings.
Tamarack Nature Center is taking the concept of “nature-nourished engagement” even further. The center is in the midst of a multi-year project called “Destination for Discovery.” The goal is to transform Tamarack from the traditional role of a nature center “toward becoming an essential community resource that integrates personal explorations of nature with art, play, discovery and active investigation,” according to the project’s master plan.
Children head back to Tamarack Nature Center after exploring a restored prairie.
In 2008 the Minnesota Legislature made a $745,000 state grant to support Phase I of the project, which includes the design, development and construction of a nature play area and parent pavilion, woodland play stream, children’s garden and associated access improvements at the center.
Vidas is particularly excited about the nature play area, which has been dubbed “The Wild Place.”
“Kids need a sense of the forest for themselves,” she said. “They need areas where they can pick up sticks, build forts, and negotiate with nature and one another. This is about free expression, about discovery and wonderment of ‘what’s in there.’”