The mission of the Lake Erie Islands
Nature & Wildlife Center is to promote conservation of and education about the flora, fauna, and lands of the Lake Erie Islands ecosystem.
Nature Camp Registration!
NATURE CAMP UPDATE 5/23:
Nature Camp at the LEINWC has been a huge part of island summers for many kids over the years and will be for years to come. This year with the pandemic, we have decided to do camp differently. We will not be holding in-person camp as we usually do, but will instead be providing activity kits for campers to do on their own or with their families at home and around the islands. These kits will have all the activities (and more!) that they would have done during camp. As always, they will get lots of goodies in their Camp bags, this year including a nice drawstring bag. We are working on several different ways to ensure a fun and meaningful experience for our campers while learning about bugs and exploring the island. We are extremely disappointed that we can’t run camp like normal this summer, however, the safety of our campers and their families, as well as our staff and volunteers is our utmost priority. Despite this unusual situation, we are working hard to provide a fun island experience to all campers who register! Please message us with any questions. We hope you will consider supporting the Nature & Wildlife Center by registering your kids for camp this summer!
Happy Spring from the LEINWC!
All of us here at the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center are greatly concerned about and keeping a close watch on the Covid-19 pandemic. Of greatest importance is keeping our employees and visitors safe and healthy. To do that, we have come to the difficult decision that the Nature & Wildlife Center will remain closed through May, opening to the public when we are able to, hopefully in June. We will still be hosting Nature Camp, but will not be having in-person camp as usual. Instead we will be providing fun and educational activity kits for the campers to do on their own or with their families. We are hoping to be able to host our summer events, however it is unclear at this time if that is feasible. Of course, this is all subject to change based on the circumstances of the pandemic. The safety of our employees, volunteers, and visitor is our utmost priority and we will continue to plan our operations according to CDC and Ohio Health Department guidelines. Please keep a close eye here on our website and on our Facebook page for up to date information. We will also be regularly posting ideas and activities to do while at home during this time, so follow our Facebook and Instagram pages and keep checking our website for some great resources! To everyone reading, we will get through this together and come out of it stronger as a community. Stay safe and stay healthy my friends!
This winter we broke ground on our building addition and we are excited to announce that construction work has started back up! It is all thanks to donors like you who have supported us on this journey to add on to the Nature & Wildlife Center. The building addition will add valuable space, as our visitor numbers have been consistently increasing over the years. In the addition, we will have a new display area that will house a wildlife viewing window area, a geology display, and most exciting of all, a new live animal display. We will also add a much-needed office and library space. We hope to see you this summer at the Nature & Wildlife Center!
We always need donations to help support our educational programs. And we are still seeking donations to help with the new displays. If you would like to sponsor a specific display, please contact us at leinwc@gmail.com for more details. For other ways to help, click here. If you would like to donate online, you can do so through PayPal using a PayPal account or credit card.
About Us
The Lake Erie Islands Nature and Wildlife Center was formed by a collaboration between the Lake Erie Islands chapter of the Black Swamp Conservancy and the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society. In 2012 we became an independent non-profit organization.
Along with being in the middle of the walleye capital of the world, the islands are home to hundreds of species of birds and are the only place in the country where the federally threatened Lake Erie Watersnake can be found.
Utilizing our unique location we aim to provide a one of a kind ecological/educational experience for the 700,000+ visitors that come to South Bass Island each summer.
How to Help
We Need Your Help In These Uncertain Times
With all of the current uncertainties with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are asking for the help and support of the community. As many know, we rely heavily on our admissions and program income to cover our expenses throughout the year. With the current situation, we are working towards limiting our expenses as much as possible.
However, we still have base operating costs that include utilities, taxes, and payroll for our minimal staff. With all of our Spring programs already being cancelled and the uncertainty of when we will be able to open to the public, we must call on the community once again for help. For the past few years our fundraising efforts have gone towards our building addition, which is now fully funded (and those funds are specifically earmarked for construction costs so cannot be used for operating costs). We sincerely thank everyone who has helped us reach our building fund goal! We are now focusing fundraising efforts for our general fund to cover operating costs for the year and will be launching several online fundraisers for that purpose. We are also investigating grants and loans that are becoming available.
We know everyone is experiencing difficulties right now, and we hope to work with our community and be an educational resource during these times and always. Currently, we are working on developing resources to help families with fun activities to do while at home as well as educational resources for kids (and adults!). If there are any other ways we can be a helpful resource to the community, please contact us and let us know. If you want to volunteer to help the Nature & Wildlife Center, please reach out as we are always looking for help within the community. We sincerely appreciate any and all support you can provide, whether it’s donations, volunteering, or even just liking and sharing our social media pages and posts! Thank you to our amazing community, we appreciate all of you more than we can say!
