Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center

Part of my time with AmeriCorps is spent developing educational programming for the new St. Louis Audubon Center at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The Center is slated to be finished next summer and will be a venue for a variety of ecological, place-based educational programming and recreation.

To familiarize myself with Audubon Centers I made a trip down Hwy 44 to visit the Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center in Joplin, MO (http://www.wildcatglades.audubon.org/). The Center is situated in rolling Ozark hills among unique chert glades. Shoal Creek runs through the chert glade, woodland, and around high bluffs on site.

I had a very fruitful meeting with Chris Pistole, the Education Director. He was generous with both his time and expertise, providing me with several resources that will inform my work here at the Audubon Center at Riverlands. The Center building is full of treasure to be discovered, including a massive multi-level freshwater aquarium, several engaging exhibits, classrooms, print resources, and a nature store.

My walk around the trails took me through the chert glade, over a low water crossing and into bottomland forest, along the bedrock riffles of the creek, and under the bluff trail (I look forward to it next time). All the while I was coaxed along by the sound of the creek and the promise of the gently curving trail ahead.

Places like these are crucial; certainly for their protected habitat and natural beauty, but also for the on-site educational outreach and connection to place they offer. The talented staff and volunteers at Wildcat Glades are sharing knowledge and skills that inform better stewardship with people of all ages.

I highly recommend a visit to the Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center for anyone in the area. For those who are not near Joplin, the Center's proximity to Interstate 44 makes it a nice stopping point on your way to through.


Enjoy being outside today!