Community Nature Center Project Progress

The Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge are working hard to secure funding for supporting the completion of the Community Nature Center at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, and we could use your help.

Step One: Nature Play Space

The Friends of Ridgefield are rejuvenating their Community Nature support journey with the first step of funding a highly sought-after aspect of the new Nature Center, a Nature Play Space.

Several focus groups conducted between the Friends and the USFWS reported a need for a space at the Refuge that is outside, where students, families, and people of all ages and abilities can literally step into nature in a safe, non-threatening way, and in a way that is not disruptive to the wildlife refuge itself.

Thanks to the Keller Foundation, and a generous grant for $100,000, we are almost the whole way to funding this aspect of the nature center! Part of the grant, $25,000, will be rewarded to us when we can provide a match from you, our supporters.

You can donate or become a member, and your contributions can directly support that match goal, and give us that last push over the finish line for the Nature Play Space.

What is a Nature Play Space?

What is a Nature Play area, and why do we want one?

Community Focus Groups reported the need for an area where families and children can interact more with nature, and orient themselves to the outdoors in a less overwhelming way. There are a lot of places on the Refuge where we need to be quiet and not disturb the environment, but this place would offer the opportunities for small samples of nature and what it can offer everyone, of every ability, age, and background.

Projects like the Nature Play area are part of the USFWS Standards of Excellence, which include:

• Know and relate to the community.
• Use stepping stones to engage people in nature.
• Build partnerships.
• Be a community asset.
• Ensure adequate long-term resources.
• Provide equitable access.
• Ensure visitors feel welcome and safe.
• Model sustainability.

 

The Children & Nature Network made a great video about Nature Play areas, and what they can include, and how the impacts reach farther than the physical location of the play area.

What will the Nature Play area include?

Basic concept designs include:

• False-wood structures like logs and steps for playing on, to provide safe/low maintenance areas for children to play and still feel the textures of nature without disrupting restored native habitats.
• Flat paths for strollers and wheelchairs.
• A Red-osier Tunnel that is tall enough for someone in a wheelchair to wheel over a smooth path through a tunnel of plants, without having to go over the bridge or over a mile to get into a forested area of the Refuge’s Carty Unit.
• Playing Otters Sculpture for kids to play on and engage with wildlife education.
• Plants and landscaping with native plants, to enhance the space, and provide educational interpretive opportunities.
• Different landscapes are represented, with the chance for interpretation about how each type serves a purpose in nature.
• And more!

Original Cost Estimate Overviews and Explanations

Click the document for project particulars. Many costs have shifted, and we are reaching out to our community to connect with contractors and donors who can provide classroom items, materials, interpretive design or display creation, or just want to hop on board and help us spread the word, let us know!

 

Next Up: Environmental Education Classroom!

The next project on our list is outfitting the Environmental Education Classroom. This can include desks and chairs, goggles and gloves, presentation equipment, wet lab items, and more. We are looking for anyone with connections or who wants to help us in obtaining these items, or creating them. Thank you!

Keller Foundation Details

“The Keller Foundation was founded in 1997 by Dick and Ruthie Keller as a living entity in which family members and their future generations could unite with pride and pleasure to strengthen their communities and country through philanthropy. The mission of the Keller Foundation since inception is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest and in areas where the family may live by providing grants to educational, medical, cultural, and social service institutions to strengthen their programs over time.”