Main Content

Environment/Ecology

Bloomington
Region: Metro
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
3815 American Blvd East
Bloomington, MN 55425
Phone: (952) 854-5900
Fax: (612) 725-3279
Website: www.nws.gove/Midwest/minnesotavalley.com
Tour Focus: Learn about wildlife and their habitat on this tour.
Group Size: no minimum, no maximum
Cost: free
Availability: year-round
Tour Guide: self-guided

Duluth
Region: Northeast
UMD Natural Resources Research Institute
5013 Miller Trunk Highway
Duluth, MN 55811
Contact: June Kallestad
Phone: (218) 720-4300
Fax: (218) 720-4219
Website: www.nrri.umn.edu
Tour Focus: The tour focuses on ecological research and testing, water, mining, and forestry.
Group Size: no minimum, no maximum
Cost: free
Availability: year round, by appointment
Tour Guide: guided

Faribault
Region: Southern
River Bend Nature Center
P.O. Box 186
Faribault, MN 55021
Contact: Nalani McCutcheon
Phone: (507) 332-7151
Fax: (507) 332-0656
E-mail: mccutchn@rbnc.org
Website: www.rbnc.org
Tour Focus: Nature hikes, snowshoeing, hiking trails and environmental education programs focusing on the big woods and prairie ecosystems are available through our tours. Programming for limited mobility and developmentally challenged is available.
Group Size: no minimum, no maximum
Cost: $44/person, $50 minimum for group tours
Availability: year-round, by appointment
Tour Guide: Interpretive Naturalist

Lakefield
Region: Southern
Prairie Ecology Bus Center
PO Box 429
Lakefield, MN 56150
Contact: Chrystal Dunker
Phone: (507) 662-5064
E-mail: ecologybus@ecologybus.org
Website: www.ecologybus.org
Tour Focus: Come learn about our natural resources and the hands-on outdoor environmental education programs in Southern and Western Minnesota.
Group Size: no minimum, no maximum
Cost: Varies by program
Availability: year-round, by appointment
Tour Guide: Naturalist staff

Lanesboro
Region: Southern
Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center
28097 Goodview Drive
Lanesboro, MN 55949
Phone: (507) 467-2437
E-mail: groups@eagle-bluff.org
Website: www.eagle-bluff.org
Tour Focus: Naturalist programs are large-group presentations designed to inform and entertain. Each group leader communicates with Eagle Bluff staff to customize their own unique experience. No matter what you are planning they will work to help you plan to perfection. See http://www.eagle-bluff.org/classes.html for information on presentations offered for groups touring through the area. Popular to groups is Eagle Bluffs Raptor Presentation: live raptors will be featured including a Barred owl, Red-tailed hawk, and an American kestrel. Natural history information and the importance of raptors in a healthy ecosystem will be covered.
Group Size: no maximum, no minimum
Cost: varies on participant program
Availability: year-round
Tour Guide: guided

New Ulm
Region: Southern
Putting Green Eco-Center
1927 South Valley Street
New Ulm, MN 56073
Contact: Laural Gamm
Phone: (507) 354-7888
E-mail: puttinggreen@newulmtel.net
Website: www.puttinggreen.org
Tour Focus: This is a 9-hole mini-golf course with every hole teaching an ecological lesson. They also run a truck-farm on site and teach a variety of eco-lessons. They teach an "Eco-preneur Program" to youth about how you can mix entrepreneurialism and how you can be conscious to preserve the environment.
Group Size: 20 minimum, 45 maximum, flexible
Cost: $3/person
Availability: By appointment for groups, Apr-Oct
Tour Guide: guides are available

Osseo
Region: Metro
Eastman Nature Center
13551 Elm Creek Road
Osseo, MN 55369
Contact: Lee Ann Landstrom
Phone: (763) 694-7700
Fax: (763) 420-4477
Website: www.ThreeRiversParks.org
Tour Focus: On this tour, learn about nature, the environment, birds, plants, insects, and water quality, all while enjoying hands-on and outdoor activities.
Group Size: 5 minimum; 100 maximum
Cost: Free Parking
Availability: year-round
Tour Guide: naturalists, by appointment

Pine River
Region: Northwestern
Happy Dancing Turtle
2373 Dancing Wind Road SW
Pine River, MN 56474
Phone: (218) 587-2303
Fax: (218) 597-5002
Website: www.happydancingturtle.com
E-mail: general@happydancingturtle.org
Tour Focus: the Hunt Utilities Group Campus is a destination point for research and development of sustainable living, renewable energy, and high efficiency housing. Tour points include experimental buildings incorporating straw bale and cob, Structural Insulated Panels, cob artwork, greenhouse, heat storage systems, solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, water catchment, composting toilets, waste water reclamation, and sustainable landscaping. Hands-on activities can also be arranged.
Group Size: no minimum, no maximum, but approximately 60 people
Cost: no fee at this time
Availability: year-round, by appointment
Tour Guide: educational staff