Seney National Wildlife Refuge breaks ground on new visitor center
UPPER PENINSULA — The Seney National Wildlife Refuge broke ground on a new visitor center this week.
On May 10, the Seney National Wildlife Refuge officially began construction of the new center, which will replace the old center that has been in place for 60 years. Refuge officials said the old center was becoming worn down and needed major renovations.
In February 2022, the visitor center was town down and planning began for the next building.
"The cost of renovating the old building was getting close to what it would cost to just make a new building and it still wouldn't be energy efficient," said Sara Giles, manager of the visitor center. "The building needed a lot of updates."
The new visitor center will be larger and will include new exhibits to show people the best places to go in the refuge to find what they are looking for.
Founded in the 1930s, the Seney National Wildlife Refuge covers more than 150 square miles, including around 85,000 acres of protected land.
The refuge is home to more than 250 species of birds and dozens of others species, including fish, wolves, bears, deer and other critters.
"Primarily we're a bird refuge, but we have wildlife habitat for all the animals that live in the U.P.," Giles said. "We have bears and wolves and an occasional moose. One of our main goals is still protecting birds, but we in general want to protect the wildlife habitat, which then supports all the animals."
The National Wildlife Refuge System, which is responsible for more than 500 refuges in America, has at least one wildlife refuge in every state and territory.
The first American wildlife refuge was founded in 1903, specifically to help migrating birds. In the 1800s and early 1900s, hunting birds was extremely popular to collect feather plumage for fashion and collecting birds themselves.
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The migrating bird population once dropped so low, that a national program was created to help the bird population. In the 1930s the program expanded, and dozens of refuges began popping up throughout the country.
"The refuges had wintering grounds and summering grounds where they could raise their young and then a series of refuges in the middle to kind of allow them a place to get to and from as they migrated," said Giles.
The main purpose of the center is to help protect the animal species that live within it, but they also provide tourist services for visitors. Visitors who come to the center can find educational exhibits about the species that live there and the environment of the refuge, as well as mapped tours through the refuge.
"Having the center allows us to protect the habitat from visitors by keeping them organized and safe. It also helps spread the word about wildlife and conservation efforts," said Giles. "We're hoping that by having a visitor center that we can help spread the word as to why habitat protection and why wildlife is important and what we can do to help."
Groundbreaking on the construction began May 10 and will continue through the year. It is not known when construction will be finished, but the visitor center is up and running in a secondary location while construction is underway.
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Seney National Wildlife Refuge breaks ground on new visitor center
