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Wetlands Center sees 'steady progression'

By Les Winkeler, The Southern

Thursday, February 21, 2008 8:09 PM CST

KARNAK - A spotting scope is set up in the bay windows on the east side of the Henry N. Barkhausen Cache River Wetland Center.

Visitors peering through the scope are treated to the spectacle of two bald eagles perched in a distant tree. The eagles almost appear to be animated creatures, seemingly peering directly back at the scope.

This area of the Wetland Center, which overlooks a mini-wetland, is wired for sound. Visitors can hear the songs of the various bird species visiting the feeders around the wetland.

A few paces away, a diorama explicity details life in the Cache River swamp. In another part of the Wetland Center, visitors can watch a brief film that details life in the region at the turn of the century and the ongoing reclamation of the Cache River swamps.

Nearly three years after opening its doors, the Wetland Center is fulfilling its promise.

The center serves as a centerpiece for the work being done by the Joint Venture Partnership, which consists of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Ducks Unlimited.

"They finished the exhibits in October 2004 and opened the doors February 2005," said Jim Waycuilis, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources site superintendent at Cache River State Natural Area. "We were only open two days a week until November 2005."

The center is now open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

Visitors are discovering the center, whether they are locals, tourists or school groups.

"It's been a steady progression," said Molie Oliver, a member of the Wetland Center staff. "You can tell a lot more in the summer. Some of the visitors have heard about it from family and friends. A lot of schools like it for end-of-the-year field trips.

"People really thing the exhibits are done well. A lot of times they'll say it is one of the best places they've been in that gives natural and cultural history."

Waycuilis said tourists have told him the center compares favorably, or exceeds, visitor centers at national parks.

Oliver said tourists sometimes make their way to the center after spending the day on the trail. Others use the information at the center to plan their visit to the Cache River Wetlands.

"If I talk to people, the plan I encourage is to come here first because it gives them a good introduction to the Cache River Wetlands," Waycuilis said.

In addition to the members of the Joint Venture Partnership, the Wetland Center depends on the services provided by Cache Corps Discovery and a staff of a dozen volunteers.

The volunteers donate eight hours of their time each month. Volunteers interact with visitors, build bluebird houses or help landscape the center.

For volunteers Mervyn and Brenda Tripp of Anna, their service is a labor of love.

"We would always drive by here and I always said I'd like to work there some day," Mervyn said. "It's so inviting. We stopped in one day and have enjoyed it ever since.

"We like to do bird-watching and she does the spring and winter bird counts. It's a natural fit. It would be for anybody. I can't imagine anybody would not want to be here."

"This is such a stress relief to come down here," Brenda added. "We see wildlife all the way down. We saw turkeys on the way down here and bluebirds greeted us at the gate."

Both enjoy showing visitors around the center.

"We try to pick out something we're afraid they're going to miss," Brenda said.

Visitors to the center come from Marion, Harrisburg, St. Louis, Nashville and even places like Holland, Mich.

Armas and Rose Soorus, from Holland, Mich. visited the Wetlands Center in early February. They had been at Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, located nearby at Shawnee Community College. U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel referred them to the Wetlands Center.

"We're going from Michigan to California and back," Rose said. "We're stopping at refuges along the way."

They took in the movie at the Wetlands Center and picked up various brochures to plan their day-or-two stay in the region.

"We have the freedom to stay if we hit the jackpot on what we find," Armas said.

For most visitors to the Cache River Wetlands, the road to the jackpot begins at the Henry N. Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Visitor Center.

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com

351-5088