by Chuck Jacobsen, Naturalist and Mark Roberts, Environmental Education Coordinator

In our ever-changing world, species are constantly being faced with new challenges for survival and are adjusting to meet them. It seems that community service programs are facing similar problems. Our environmental education (EE) offerings here in Clinton County have undergone subtle changes recently. With any luck these changes will go relatively unnoticed by the general public and the schools that use the programs. The education program at Soaring Eagles Nature Center in Clinton has become part of the Clinton County Conservation Board’s Environmental Education Program. We intend to offer the same great service to our constituents, only with even more choices and diversity.

Over the past 3 decades, EPNS, a private, non-profit organization has provided environmental education to nearly a third of the grade-school aged students of our county. The Clinton County Conservation Board has handled the EE program for the remainder of the county as well as some Clinton Schools. Spring of 2003 saw the end of that era. In order to maintain the level of conservation education our children receive, a new alliance was formed.

For the past two years, programs at Soaring Eagle were offered at no charge to schools. The Eagle Point Nature Society received grant money to fund the program. The Society provided the instructors and the facilities at Soaring Eagle Nature Center. The EPNS however has had ever mounting financial problems for years and they could no longer support the program as it had been. Schools have had budget cuts for field trips and grant money eventually runs dry. With the handwriting plainly on the wall, the EPNS approached the CCCB with the idea of a partnership in January of 2002. At that time there was some hope that funds could be found in the private sector, but that hope soon faded. It was just this last winter that the proposed partnership once again was brought before the CCCB.

Seeing that more cuts were on the way and other funding was not forthcoming to support the EPNS education program, the Conservation Board approved pursuit of this partnership. Several meetings brought together an understanding between the two boards and an agreement was made. EPNS would continue to maintain the buildings and grounds of SENC and the CCCB would supply them with access to their team of naturalists. The CCCB also hired Chuck Jacobsen as a naturalist, who has served as SENC Director for the past three years and has been involved in the Nature Society from its beginnings. Under the agreement, school programs would continue at SENC and the EPNS would be relieved of much of their budgetary expenses, freeing up financial assets for much needed upkeep, repair and renovation.

One of the potential pitfalls of this new partnership is that Nature Society membership may feel unneeded since the county is stepping in or that donations might dry up because tax dollars will take care of the center. Nothing could be further from the truth. The membership of the Eagle Point Nature Society has been indispensable throughout the past 30 years and will continue to be. Keeping the Nature Barn, farm animal park, schoolhouse and 40 acres of wildlife habitat in good shape is a large task that takes real dollars. Without public support of this facility, many programs would have to be taught within the confines of a classroom and much of the impact of the essential need for environmental awareness would be lost. If you want to help someone discover the beauty and importance of our natural world there is no better place than a nature center. How can you point to a picture, graph, text or table in a book and hope to instill some sense of responsibility, ownership and love of nature in a child. It’s just not real to most kids. Baba Diom, a Sengalese conservationist, wrote, "In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we know, and we will know only what are taught." The Society has opened the eyes of many children through the years and can continue to do so if the facility is maintained, the membership remains strong and programs continue. We still need your help.

The CCCB has been providing EE for roughly the same amount of time as EPNS. The Environmental Education Program of the CCCB has benefited from partnerships with Scott County Conservation at the Wapsi River Environmental Education Center, the US Army Corps of Engineers at Rock Creek Marina & Campground and now with the Eagle Point Nature Society at Soaring Eagles Nature Center. Through field trips to Eden Valley Nature Center and the Wapsi River EE Center and more recently Rock Creek and aboard the Blue Heron Eco Cruise Pontoon Boat, schools enjoy a diverse array of outdoor education opportunities from which to choose. The CCCB program has been selected as the most outstanding environmental education program in Iowa, for large counties, two out of the last four years. The CCCB’s education program is among the most diverse to be found anywhere.

The CCCB has the expertise to provide a high level of educational integrity to the partnership, with well-educated and experienced interpreters. Mark Roberts and Greg Wolf have years of experience teaching in the outdoors and their diversity of knowledge and skills will enhance the educational program at Soaring Eagle. Chuck Jacobsen, likewise, brings an array of talents to the CCCB program. The team of three compliments each other’s skills and talent very well, giving both programs a richer tapestry of skills from which to teach. The alliance will make working with large groups at the Soaring Eagle Nature Center more feasible. We can accommodate groups of up to 75 children easily, with the added staff now available. Large groups are also more efficient to transport because a half empty bus is just as costly as a full bus.

The Soaring Eagles Nature Center will serve as a regional nature center, which will allow us to work with any group, from either side of the Mississippi, that wants to learn about the ecology of the area.

The potential for growth and enhanced learning opportunities seem endless. As long as imagination and focus on what is really important remains strong, environmental education’s future in Clinton County is very bright indeed.

Together we are making a difference here in Clinton County. This past summer we have offered more public programs and opportunities for outdoor discovery and adventure than ever before. Many people are finding their connection to our natural world and we are sure that the next 30 years hold as much promise as the last.