The Horicon Marsh International Educational Center will be a landmark facility providing environmental education, cultural and natural history interpretation and information for the 400,000 annual visitors to the Horicon Marsh.

Name of President: Robert Weiss

Date/Time/Location of meeting: Second Tuesday of each month at the DNR Service Center at Horicon Marsh. Meetings begin at 6:30 pm.

Goals: To support the education program and effort of DNR at Horicon Marsh. Also, to coordinate a $5.1 million fund raising campaign for the development of the Horicon Marsh International Education Center, a world-class education facility at Horicon Marsh, a "Wetland of International Importance and a "Globally Important Bird Area".

History: In 1994, wildlife educator and naturalist Bill Volkert conducted an organizational meeting for the purpose of evaluating the interest in organizing such a group. This resulted in a good response and tremendous interest in seeing such an education center develop on the south end of Horicon Marsh.

To date, this group has been successful in coordinating the fund raising campaign as they move closer to developing the Education Center. They have supported the Education Program in numerous ways including providing funding for an assistant naturalist for the past 4 years. This organization is coordinates the finances for Marsh Melodies and serves as an umbrella organization for the Horicon Marsh Bird Club and the Rock River Archeological Society.

Education Center Update: As many of you know, at the end of last year (2001) we were successful in obtaining the second of three gifts from John Deere Horicon Works towards the development of our Education Center. These funds were significant in that we now have achieved a major goal which moves us closer to realizing our dream - the development of a world-class education center at Horicon Marsh. This most recent gift has built on the generous donations we have received from many others to date. We now have more than half of the building cost in hand which allows us to hire architects and engineers to begin the design plan. This is a requirement of the Wisconsin Building Commission since this will be a state facility. The Department of Administration is currently accepting applications from various firms. We expect to hire a design firm this spring and begin working on the development plans. Stay tuned as we move closer to seeing our dream come true.

Bill Volkert
Wildlife Educator/Naturalist
Horicon Service Center
N7725 Hwy. 28, Horicon, WI 53032-9782
Phone: (920) 387-7877
Fax: (920) 387-7888
Email: volkew@dnr.state.wi.us