Ankeny Hill Nature Center
Mission Statement
The Center provides educational and interpretive
opportunities to connect people with nature
and to instill a sense of environmental stewardship.
Many ways to explore and learn
The Center takes advantage of its location at the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge to provide multiple educational environments, including the Nature Explore area for kids, Refuge overlooks, learning stations (nodes) along accessible pathways, and discovery elements throughout the Refuge.
Partners of The Center
The Ankeny Hill Nature Center is the product of a unique partnership among area non-profit organizations and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Fundraising by the Salem Audubon Society and the Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex complements support by the Federal Government to design, build and operate The Center for the public.
Salem Audubon Society
The Salem Audubon Society is a chapter of the National Audubon Society. Our mission is to connect people to nature, through education focused on birds, other wildlife and their habitats, and conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. To this end, we promote the enjoyment of wildlife and the stewardship of the environment with birding field trips, nature walks, monthly meetings and a variety of traveling educational programs.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex
The Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a volunteer-run organization with members who care about the Willamette Valley Refuges as natural resources and work to protect them. We directly support the Refuge Complex to achieve its goals, which include habitat restoration, environmental education, community outreach, and more!
Ankeny Hill Nature Center Basics
Staffing
The Center is a public facility managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and operated by staff, volunteers, educators, and interpreters.
Using
We rely on the good behavior of those who use The Center to help make it a great place to visit. Our guidelines for use describe our expectations.
Attending
The Mark Gehlar Building has indoor and outdoor classrooms, easily reserved for use. A calendar of events found on the Home page and on theindicates availability and topics.
Supporting
Through donations to our partners, you can assist in the mission and growth of the
Ankeny Hill Nature Center.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
A rendering of the completed Ankeny Hill Nature Center overlooking the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge.
Origin of The Center: Sharing an Idea and a Gift
Understanding the Importance of Environmental Education
The idea of creating the Ankeny Hill Nature Center came through a marriage of opportunity and a need for Salem Audubon and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2004, Mark Gehlar, co-founder of Oregon Fruit Products Co., made a $1.35 million bequest to the Salem Audubon Society to create a nature center. Gehlar understood the value of having a gathering place where children and adults could come to discover how important the environment is to our future.
The original idea was to put the center at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve in West Salem – land also donated by Gehlar. The problem was the land was too small for the public access imagined. More than a dozen different places were considered by but finding the perfect location was difficult. Though the $1.35 million donation was significant, it wasn’t enough to fund property acquisition, architectural planning, building costs, and long-term maintenance costs.
That was when the Salem group hit upon the novel idea of partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to build the center on public land at Ankeny where the National Wildlife Refuge has some of the best examples of native habitat in the Willamette Valley. The Service was excited to help create a space dedicated to environmental education. It also fostered creation of the public-private partnership that now includes the Service, the Salem Audubon Society and the Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex organization.
The building of Phase I of the Ankeny Hill Nature Center began in 2017 with construction of the Mark Gehlar Hall and related trails and outdoor exploration areas. Gehlar Hall includes both an indoor classroom, a covered outdoor classroom with lab space, office and storage. The Hall is climate controlled with fresh water, restrooms, internet connectivity, and audio-video presentation equipment.
Phase II will start sometime in 2022 with an expansion of Gehlar Hall that will include exhibit space, a library and additional storage for nature artifacts and curriculum kits. A stand-alone outdoor classroom structure dedicated to Service biologist David Marshall will also be built adjacent to Peregrine Marsh near Buena Vista Road.
Learning About Nature
Make It Yours!
An important attribute of the Ankeny Hill Nature Center is creating ways to make it easy for people of all ages and interests to make visits to The Center personally rewarding. From school children to conservancy organizations, special interest groups to scouts, our mission is to make The Center a focal point of community life.
Share Your Thoughts
In addition to the personal benefits we hope to provide, we also hope visitors will be willing to share their thoughts and impressions of the nature experience. A space for creative writing and visual arts will be established in the Mark Gehlar Building for the display of submitted works. Occasional topical exhibitions will also be presented.
Contribute to Our Gallery
We also plan to share an online gallery of photography and artwork created in The Center and at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge. Once we open, submissions from local visual storytellers may be shared through a special link on the About page of this website.
Take a Hike, Attend an Event
In addition to the many self-guided learning opportunities at The Center, multiple nature experiences led by experts in the flora, fauna, and history of the Willamette Valley will be presented. These public events will appear on our Calendar page.
Share your images and writings in our
Nature Center Gallery
Submission guidelines will be published in early February.