What an amazing year since the initiation of our first membership! Wild Bear is celebrating its 15th year, and ten years ago began the effort to create a nature center in this community. Land was preserved and 30 tons of trash was removed and Wild Bear acquired approvals to build a nature center at Mud Lake. These all have been huge milestones toward the realization of this vision. Now, another milestone has been achieved: the creation of the Mountain Ecology Center in the Caribou Shopping Center in downtown Nederland.
The Mountain Ecology Center (MEC) downtown is a major step toward the realization of the Center at Mud Lake. The MEC downtown features the “Mud Lake” exhibit, an interactive room highlighting Nederland’s local natural preserve, telling the story of Wild Bear’s efforts to preserve the land and clean it up.It will be complete with a mural of our local high peaks and the City of Boulder Watershed as well as a simulation of Mud Lake on its floors. We encourage you to visit us and enjoy this beautiful addition to the Boulder County community.
Wild Bear’s Workshops in the Wild for children ages 5-15 are reaching new enrollment highs; we are now expanding to offer community workshops, such as wildflower walks, bird watching, etc out of our new public space as well as providing general visitors with informal opportunities at the Center on a daily basis! And, we have launched the Wild Earth Goods, where our community can purchase gifts with the earth in mind… supporting this mission with a purchase! With your membership, you can receive discounts in the gift shop as well as special rates on workshops!
Wild Bear is growing and expanding and it is because of our strong community support, our donors, volunteers and members. The renovation of the Mountain Ecology Center downtown as well as our first year’s rent was funded by our committed donors. We are so grateful for this support.
We hope you will become a member today, to be part of these exciting new developments. Not only will you receive membership benefits, but your membership will also support our efforts to grow and serve the general public on a daily basis and further our efforts toward the realization of our vision of an off-grid educational facility on our property at Mud Lake.
In addition to this exciting news, there is a very specific opportunity within the Wild Bear community. Wild Bear Center continues to see a significant increase in scholarship requests in these tough economic times, and when eligible families ask for assistance, Wild Bear always accommodates those who are struggling. Please consider an additional gift today to support our efforts to engage youth in healthy experiences in the outdoors, no matter their ability to pay the tuition. And, Wild Bear is eligible for the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit, which means that any donation to Wild Bear not only qualifies for a 100% tax credit with the IRS, but ALSO qualifies for an additional 50% tax credit on your Colorado State taxes (See attached information). While your membership may not be tax deductible, a donation receives huge tax benefits!
Thank you for considering becoming a member today and we look forward to seeing you any day of the week at the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center!
