Horicon International Education Center

Horicon Marsh is a Wisconsin landmark of regional, national and international significance. Its rich history offers many lessons in wetland and wildlife restoration and management. The Horicon Marsh International Education Center will provide experiences and an understanding of this valuable natural resource.

Renovation of an existing building adjacent to the marsh into a wetland education center will enable visitors to obtain information, view exhibits, and participate in indoor and outdoor education activities. The Horicon Marsh International Education Center's site, centrally located on Highway 28 between the cities of Horicon and Mayville, is within 60 to 90 minutes from the majority of Wisconsin's population. The primary purpose of the Center is to enlighten visitors about the importance of wetland and wildlife conservation and management.

The Center will provide year-round educational opportunities. Over 400,000 people annually visit the marsh to observe wildlife in a natural setting, creating a huge demand for interpretive services. The Department of Natural Resources conducts more than 150 interpretive programs at the marsh each year, reaching nearly 12,000 people annually. Since 1984, this program has conducted 2,000 education programs for more than 100,000 people.

The Horicon Marsh International Education Center will take full advantage of the marsh's geology, wildlife, and history in educating citizens about this unique and valuable resource in Wisconsin. It will focus on wetland and wildlife topics to help visitors understand the delicate natural relationship that exists at the marsh. The educational programs and exhibits will integrate themes about Ice Age geology, human history, the ecology and land management of the marsh, and the wildlife that thrive there.

Many of the educational components will be self-guided to accommodate the growing demand for interpretation services. Classroom-style instruction will be available for youth and adults and will take place both inside the Center and out in the marsh. The education program includes workshops in wildlife and resource management, hunter education and environmental and outdoor education training for teachers.

The Horicon Marsh International Education Center and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) regional office will occupy the site. The building is located on Highway 28, between the cities of Horicon and Mayville. The site for the Education Center is perched on a hillside, providing an outstanding view of Horicon Marsh. Large windows and a generous viewing balcony will offer a commanding view of the marsh and wildlife. The conceptual site plan for the Center provides an outdoor educational experience of the visitor, while respecting the character and ecology of the site.

Future development plans call for a 6,500 square foot addition. The vaulted ceiling lobby serves as the main gathering area for tour groups, educational seminars, visitors, and WDNR office functions. An educational auditorium, located adjacent to the lobby, will accommodate 100 people for lectures, films or slide presentations.

Interpretive trails and outdoor display areas will tell the story of typical Wisconsin vegetative communities and the wildlife they attract. A "backyard native Wisconsin landscape" display will illustrate how vegetation native to Wisconsin can be incorporated into the visitor's home landscape.

Trails, boardwalks, and viewing platforms will be blended into the site plan. All access will be fully accessible. The primary trails will traverse a variety of native and managed Wisconsin habitats. Signs along the trails interpret these habitats.

The site plan and trail system are designed to provide an outdoor laboratory for visitors to the Horicon Marsh International Education Center.

All funds for the development of this project are being raised through private donations and grants. The estimated costs for the entire project are $5,100,000.

A Vision for the Horicon Marsh Education Program

On July 1st 1997, a celebration was held to call attention to the initial success of the fund raising campaign for the development of the Horicon Marsh International Education Center. Intensive efforts have been dedicated to this project over the past few years, through the purchase of the former Flyway Clinic building, development of conceptual plans for the Education Center, and organization of the Friends Group and fund raising campaign.

While these efforts have taken place over the past 4 years, we have been working to build an Education Program for the past 13 years. The Education Center is being planned as a world-class facility to house a successful education program that has evolved over many more years.

The education program began in 1984, when Horicon Marsh was included as a unit of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve (IANSR). Bill Volkert began to develop the program as a seasonal employee during the first 4 years and eventually on a year-round basis since 1988. Over that period of time, he has conducted 2,500 education programs for an estimated 150,000 people.

The foundation of the education program is the natural and cultural resources of Horicon Marsh. The subject matter focuses on these natural assets and uses them to introduce and familiarize visitors with this world renowned resource. Naturalist program subjects include the following:

• Pre-Glacial and Glacial Geology of the Area
• Indian History
• Settlement History and Human Impacts to the Marsh
• Wetlands, Wildlife and Wildlife Management Programs

Program Audience

The audience for these programs is as diverse as the subject matter. They include:

• Tourists and marsh visitors
• School children and university students
• Teachers training through development of a field trip guide and workshops to train teachers in their use.
• Outdoor Skills workshops for hunter and trapper education, and bird watching.
• Professional training in resource management and ecology for DNR staff including the Warden Waterfowl Training Course, plus personnel from county, state, and federal agencies staff.
• Other professionals from the International Scientific Community. This includes a total of 57 delegations from 36 foreign countries.

Partners

In developing and conducting the education program, this effort cooperates with many partners. They include:

• Other DNR programs and staff
• Conservation and environmental groups
• Local communities and organizations, including:
  • The Friends of the Horicon Marsh International Education Center
  • Horicon Marsh Bird Club
• National Park Service;
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• various universities and UW-Extension Office
• Dodge County Tourism Council
• Local civic organizations
• Area radio stations and newspapers which inform the public on local resources and important issues.

Goals

In the development of educational efforts at Horicon Marsh, we first built an Education Program, and are now working on building an appropriate and comprehensive Education Center to house these programs and services. The goal of our education program is this:

To build more than a nature center that just tells people about the marsh and its wildlife. We are the means by which people can understand the natural resources which they are responsible for and the ecosystem which we are all a part of.

This program will strive to instill a "Land Ethic" in the minds of many people it comes in contact with.

Fifty years ago, one of Wisconsin's great ecologists and educators, Aldo Leopold, first proposed the concept of a Land Ethic. Ethics are rules of conduct for a society. We have developed ethics regarding how we treat other people, but have yet to develop an ethic of how we should treat land. As land use today becomes an ever-increasingly important issue, this Education Center and its program will provide the focus for wise decisions about resource use.

As Aldo Leopold once said:

We are calling this facility the "Horicon Marsh International Education Center" because of the designation of this marsh as a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention. The convention on the most globally significant wetlands on earth has included the Horicon Marsh as a wetland whose value extends beyond the borders of our state.

However, an International Education Center is so named not only because of the designation of the marsh, but because of the way the education program functions. We are part of and connected to the global environmental community. Not only do visitors and scientists from all over the world come here, but we communicate with them from this facility. From this building, Bill Volkert also coordinates and directs the activities of the International Lake Baikal Project in Siberia, Russia. Through personal exchanges and modern communication media, such as Internet electronic mail, we maintain an exchange of information on our understanding of natural systems and our attempt to develop a sustainable lifestyle that is in harmony with our natural environment.

The goal of this Education Program then, is to work with our neighbors - those who live throughout the Rock River watershed which surrounds this marsh - to develop a sustainable land use policy and practices which protect the marsh and its wildlife while maintaining the human community and economy that lies within the watershed and the Horicon neighborhood.

This grand goal and the necessary relationship which we will strive to develop among our visitors and neighbors will result in long-term benefits to this marsh and those who live by it - as it has always provided for the people who depend on the marsh. It will also benefit the millions of people who come here to visit and learn about the marsh and its management programs.

Additionally, if we should succeed in developing and defining a "Land Ethic" which sustains ourselves and the land on which we live, our work will serves as a model from which others can learn to sustain their own portions of the global environment which we all share.

This will be the true measure and success in establishing an International Education Center!

Contact Information

Bill Volkert
Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area
N7728 Hwy 28
Horicon, WI 53032
(920) 387-7860

Questions for Wildlife Management