David Catlin Consulting LLC

06/29/2026

I had a chance to visit Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently. It features almost 600 acres of woods and wetlands with a nature center at its core. It's operated by the Green Bay Parks Department. There are trails, boardwalks, a building with classrooms and exhibits, and an extensive wildlife rehabilitation facility.

04/12/2026

The cost of new nature centers, like the cost of everything else, keeps going up. It varies immensely from project to project, of course, but here is one recent example: this new center in Rolling Hills Estates, California, is projected to cost $1,864 per square foot (including the design, construction management and furnishing costs) once it is completed next year.

A groundbreaking for the new 3,300-square-foot Nature Center at the George F. Canyon building was held recently in Rolling Hills Estates.

04/05/2026

Yesterday's Native Plant Sale at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center. The sale has been a more-or-less annual event for over 30 years. Long-time volunteers tell me that people used to show up with lots of questions. Now they show up with pre-order receipts and shopping lists. Folks are slowly learning about the value of planting native species!

03/23/2026

How and when did nature centers start as a "thing?" Who first came up with the idea? Here is a short early history. . . . https://davidcatlin.com/a-short-history-of-nature-centers/

03/17/2026

There was a time, perhaps 20 years ago, when it was an achievement for a nature center to earn LEED certification as acknowledgement of environmentally sound design. The bar was raised when facilities like the Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin, opened a net zero building and Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, achieved Living Building Challenge Petal Certification. Now I see that the new Wild Bear Nature Center in Nederland, Colorado, has "flipped the switch" on a solar array that will help make them a net-positive energy building, producing more energy than they use. Congratulations!

The Wild Bear Nature Center is nearing completion of a new net-positive, solar-powered campus.

03/06/2026

I'm always pleased when I see new nature centers being planned!

Volunteers at Apopka Birding Park spent a cloudy, damp morning spreading mulch, staking gopher tortoise burrows and clearing invasive plants as Orange Audubon Society moves closer to opening a nature center at the site.

02/01/2026

I enjoyed participating in the recent ANCA Virtual Summit (mentioned in my last post here). Most of what I talked about in the session I led is information I covered in an article for ANCA's "Directions" publication in 2024. If you missed the Summit presentation but are interested in the stuff I covered, click on the link to that article below. . . .

Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA) is a professional association dedicated to leaders in the nature and environmental learning center profession, including directors, managers, senior administrators and board members.

01/19/2026

I'm looking forward to presenting a session at this week's Association of Nature Center Administrators' "Virtual Summit." This is a screen shot from the last one I participated in--the COVID-inspired version held back in 2020!