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Visitor Center hours: Monday through Friday: 8 to 4. The trails and grounds are open dawn to dusk daily, year round. |
Prairie Wetlands Learning Center
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Located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, The Prairie Wetlands Learning Center is the first residential environmental education center operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and focuses on the understanding of prairies and wetlands.The Prairie Wetlands Learning Center sits on the Townsend Waterfowl Production Area, a 330 acre tract just outside Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The site includes both native unbroken and restored prairie, over twenty wetlands and an oak savannah.Over 180 species of birds have been identified at the Center, as well as a wide variety of native prairie grasses and forbs
In the mid-seventies, a local, grass roots effort to establish a public use facility focusing on prairies and wetlands began to explore what opportunities may be available with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This group of conservationists formed the Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center in 1989. Local donations and successful lobbying led to the eventual funding of the Center in 1994. Environmental education programs have been conducted at the Center since 1994. In 1998 the Visitor Center and Dormitory opened, and the Education Wing opened in August of 2008..
The Center is part of the 
Fergus Falls Wetland Management District, and is a cooperative venture between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of Fergus Falls and the State of Minnesota. The mission of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center is: "To provide environmental education opportunities for students, private landowners and the general public, and to foster stewardship by demonstrating methods for protection, enhancement and restoration of the prairie pothole ecosystem."
The Prairie Wetlands Learning Center includes 330 acres of native and restored prairie, 28 wetlands and 3.5 miles of trails. The Visitor Center houses a 2500 square foot exhibit area, the Bluestem Store, six classrooms and a multi-purpose meeting room and dining hall. The Center provides both day and residential environmental education and interpretation of the prairie pothole region for learners of all ages.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the Department of the Interior. Our mission is, working with others, to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
