Help Us Create The Boardman River Nature Center
Connecting People with the Wonder of Nature

Remember those warm summer evenings in your childhood when you and your friends would catch fireflies and put them in a bottle? What do those memories mean to you? Memories like this, like hours spent catching frogs in a nearby pond, as precious as they are to us, are foreign to many children today. It is up to us to ensure that all children have the opportunities to enjoy nature that we took for granted.
You and your children, and future generations, can continue to experience the wonders of nature at the Grand Traverse Natural Education Reserve. Located just three miles south of downtown Traverse City, the 420 acre Reserve offers miles of trails, several viewing platforms, and hundreds of feet of boardwalks...all along the beautiful Boardman River!

The Grand Traverse Conservation District manages the 420-acre Nature Education Reserve, and has developed an extremely popular "Discovery Hikes" Program. Thousands of children and families visit the Reserve through the Discovery Hikes each year, even though we can currently provide only a small picnic pavilion for shelter and workspace.

For decades now, the Reserve's Advisory Committee has identified the need for a Nature Center. Still, no such center has been created. With escalating demands on our natural resources, now more than ever, it is critical that our children are provided a venue through which they can connect with the wonder of nature.

To fill this void, the Grand Traverse Conservation District is working to build a 7,000 square foot Nature Center at the Sabin Pond Trailhead at the Reserve.

To date, we have raised approximately half of the $1,000,000 needed for the construction of the Nature Center. With generous leadership gifts from many local businesses, foundations, and individuals, this campaign is off to a great start. We need your help to make the Nature Center a reality.

Conservation District staff are available to talk with you, or you and a group of your friends about this exciting project. Please call Rebecca Teahen at the District (231 941 0960) for more information.

The Nature Center will not only offer a destination for nature education and recreational hikes, it will serve as a visible reminder of the priceless natural resources we enjoy in the Grand Traverse area.

Please call or talk with us today about your commitment to nature education, and protecting our natural resources for future generations.

Rebecca Teahen 231-941-0960

more info: http://www.gtrcf.org