The Wildlife Science Center in Columbus may have longer than its initial July 15 deadline to move its nearly 100 animals – including a number of endangered wolves – off-site to a new home in Linwood. However, Executive Director Peggy Callahan said that regardless of the move-out date, raising funds for the transition as soon as possible is paramount.
Meanwhile, the center remains open to the public, though Callahan said the negative attention surrounding the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ notice of termination of the WSC’s lease earlier this year has caused the center to lose valuable revenue, opportunities and visitors.
On Jan. 5, the WSC received a letter from the DNR explaining that the department was terminating the lease for the center, which currently sits on DNR property in the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area. Though the lease was set to expire naturally in March 2017, the letter said that unless the WSC addressed a number of department concerns – primarily related to the condition of the center’s on-site office building, which is not open to the public – the DNR would cut the lease short in July. Callahan disputes most of the issues raised in the letter and has said she believes the DNR is trying to force her off the property so it can add to the nearby department facilities; however, the DNR has said no such plans are imminent.
Earlier this month, however, Callahan said that discussions with the DNR have been favorable enough that the department might let the WSC move out next March after all, provided that the center follows a few steps like demonstrating that the office building is safe (Callahan would also be prohibited from bringing her several domesticated dogs on-site while she works).
“The conversation is that they’re going to extend it,” she said.
DNR Wildlife Section Chief Paul Telander confirmed that the removal of the dogs and the assurance that the office building is up to local health and fire codes were the two primary factors the DNR was concerned about resolving in order for WSC to finish its lease — an outcome he said the DNR wanted to achieve.
“We do have a few other points, but those are certainly the main two,” he said.
Telander was not sure when the DNR would make a final decision, saying that the department was waiting to hear from WSC. With July 15 only about two weeks away, he said it was important to reach an agreement soon.
“I’m hoping we would hear something in the next week or so,” he said.
The WSC owns some land in Linwood where Callahan said the center will ultimately be located, but whether the move comes in July or next year, she stressed that the center needs funds to move soon. Of the center’s fund target of $500,000, about $167,000 has been raised, including $100,000 from an anonymous donor. Front loading donations is important, said Callahan, because before the animals can move to Linwood, their new homes need to be built – a process the center hopes to start this month.
“We need to have this done by snow fly,” Callahan said.
Though the center has a fundraising page up online at tinyurl.com/z88ae38, there are other ways for friends of the WSC to help. Pet supply chain Chuck & Don’s has selected the WSC as one of the organizations benefited by the business’s annual Raising Awareness campaign, which lasts through July. Supporters of the WSC can buy a balloon from participating Chuck & Don’s locations (including the Forest Lake site at 1960 W. Broadway Ave.) or take their animals in for a dog wash or a nail trim. The WSC has also set up a program for donors wishing to “sponsor” a single animal’s move to the Linwood location, and Callahan noted that the center will gladly accept in-kind donations like lumber, nails or volunteer building services.
“We have a number of small projects, small enclosures … and we’ve had Scouts build them before,” Callahan said.
The WSC’s quest for funds has been a series of ups and downs, with the organization’s needs almost filled in full when the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill in May that included the complete financing of the WSC’s move with funds appropriated from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (which primarily deals with money collected through the Minnesota State Lottery). Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill but nixed the funds, among other parts of the bill, in a line-item veto. A spokesman for Dayton said that the governor is not against the move but objected to the fact that the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources didn’t recommend the appropriation.
“These line-item vetoes do not reflect my lack of support for these projects; rather, they underscore my conviction that the Legislature must work with its citizen councils, not against them,” Dayton’s letter explaining the vetoes read in part.
Callahan said she believed the veto may have been political retribution against District 31B Rep. Tom Hackbarth, a Republican who co-authored the bill and added the section about the WSC (Dayton is a Democrat who has been critical of the priorities of GOP lawmakers in the 2016 Legislative session, which ended last month). Hackbarth did not respond to a request for comment. Callahan was hopeful that the WSC would be able to make its case for state funding for the move again soon and urged center supporters to contact their local lawmakers and Dayton’s office.
Callahan is convinced that one barrier to the WSC getting the revenue it needs is negative attention from around the time of the lease termination letter, which she said has convinced some locals that the center is closed or unsafe for visitors. In reality, the center is still open and receiving visitors and campers, and Callahan pointed out that the majority of the issues listed in the DNR’s letter (with the exception of the domesticated dogs, which will soon no longer be on the property) pertain to factors that affect neither the WSC’s visitors nor the animals it cares for.
“We absolutely try to make noise about it, but I’m convinced that’s why our summer camp registration is so low,” Callahan said, adding that the bad press surrounding the lease termination caused a film company to cancel a contract to shoot at the center. By making comments that adversely affect the WSC’s income, she added, “(DNR leaders) have been a roadblock in us getting out of here.”
Summer camps allowing kids to learn more about the animals at the WSC are still open for registration, and the center is still available for field trips and other visits. Callahan loves teaching young visitors about another side of science as they observe the center’s wildlife.
“You don’t have to wear a white lab coat,” she said. “You can work with mountain lions and wolves and still be a scientist.”
As for the future home of the WSC, Callahan said preparations at the Linwood location will begin shortly.
“We’ll be throwing some steel in the ground soon,” she said.
Learn more about the WSC by visiting wildlifesciencecenter.org or by calling 651-464-3993.