History
WNC is the oldest private nature center in the state of Minnesota and serves about 17,000 people per year, 9,000 of which are school children, with outdoor natural history programming. The first director, Bernie Fashingbauer began work in 1965 as construction began on the main building. The project was initiated by the St. Paul Science Museum (now the Science Museum of Minnesota), The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and the Junior League of St. Paul. By the spring and fall of 1966, orientation sessions began for teachers. The first students arrived on site in the fall of 1967. At the time, the center was known as both the Wilder Nature Center and The Science Museum Nature Center.
In 1970, the Lee and Rose Warner Foundation purchased 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land and the existing nature center buildings from the Amherst H Wilder Foundation to serve as a memorial to founders Lee and Rose Warner of St Paul. Warner Nature Center is still associated with the Science Museum of Minnesota and financially supported primarily through the generosity of the Lee and Rose Warner Foundation.
Warner has a strong legacy of volunteerism. When Bernie Fashingbauer told people he was going to use volunteer trail guides to take groups of students out on the trails people told him he was crazy. Forty years later, over 100 volunteers continue to dedicate their time to students.
Warner employs 8 full-time staff, two part-time staff, and up to two interns.
Read more about this topic: Lee And Rose Warner Nature Center
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