LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES: ISLAND BRINGS TOGETHER NATURE, HISTORY, LEARNING

Imagine an island filled with quiet forests, a place where deer and buffalo roam grassy meadows, bald eagles and hawks build their nests, and herons and osprey fish shimmering waters. Imagine the island is alive with the history of people who once tilled the soil and raised families on the land.

Such an island exists just over an hour from Cape Girardeau: Land Between the Lakes. The 170,000-acre national recreation area is a project of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The forested peninsula nestles between Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, south of Paducah, Ky.

Miles of trails, virtually unlimited camping and water sports opportunities and educational programs draw some 2.5 million visitors each year.

The area was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy as the country's only "national demonstration area," designed to blend environmental education, outdoor recreation and national resource management to stimulate growth in the region. Today, Land Between the Lakes and the surrounding lakes are the focal point of a $400 million tourism industry.

Land Between the Lakes also boasts the largest publicly owned buffalo herd east of the Mississippi. The herd is part of a new feature this summer. At the Elk & Bison Range, visitors drive a three-mile, one-way loop through a 700-acre enclosure, allowing them to view elk and bison grazing. The Elk & Bison Range is the first new visitor attraction to debut at Land Between the Lakes in more than a decade.

"The Elk & Bison Range is really quite significant from a natural history perspective," said Steve Bloemer, wildlife biologist who is co-manager of the range. "This marks the first time since the mid-1800s that elk have been in the region." Elk were brought from Montana for the project. Land Between the Lakes has maintained a thriving buffalo herd since 1969.

In addition to the animals, the range features native grasses. "It was wild -- literally," said Marcus Cope, biologist who co-manages the range. The biologists set controlled fires in the range to help prepare the landscape. "What grew back in the spring were prairie grasses," Cope said, "big and little bluestem, switchgrass and Indian grass. The seeds had been in the soil all along, dormant for well over 100 years."

The re-seeding effort received some human help to ensure native grasses took hold throughout the 700-acre range.

Bloemer said the attention devoted the Elk & Bison Range should pay off. "We know from our visitor surveys that seeing wildlife is an important part of most people's trip to LBL," he said. "We wanted to build on that, but in a natural setting. We wanted to offer visitors a chance to see wildlife, learn about the area's natural history and also have a chance to do something ecologically significant."

In addition to the bison and elk, resource management has resulted in another success story. Fifteen years ago, Land Between the Lakes initiated the first bald eagle restoration project in the southeastern United States. Using a raise-and-release technique called hacking, Land Between the Lakes produced the first recorded hacked eagle to return to nest in the Southeast. Today, there are eight active bald eagle nests at Land Between the Lakes and several others in the region.

White-tailed deer are a common sight in Land Between the Lakes forests, joined by the country's oldest established population of European fallow deer. In all, more than 1,600 species of plants and animals inhabit Land Between the Lakes.

Environmental education is a charge taken seriously at Land Between the Lakes with three facilities: The Nature Station, The Homeplace-1850 and the Golden Pond Planetarium and Observatory.

The Nature Station provides an up-close encounter with the natural world through live animal exhibits and in-the-field programs. Station guide Darrin Samborski calls it an "entryway to the woods, water and wildlife of LBL."

"We offer hikes and investigations along trails, streams, ponds and lakes, as well as canoe trips and other programs that teach about the wildlife found in LBL," Samborski said. Staff members can explain what visitors are seeing and talk about some of the natural history of the area. Most trips are moderate to easy walking, with van transportation to the site.

Cultural history comes alive at The Homeplace-1850, a working 19th century farm where interpreters in period clothing demonstrate the daily lives of an 1850s-era family.

Education specialist Maryanne Andrus said, "Instead of seeing a butter churn or other tools in a static display, we show visitors the way they were used in the context of people living the way they did then."

Campers can choose from one of Land Between the Lake's developed campsites, equipped with everything the RV or tent camper needs, or head into the back country for primitive camping. Sportsmen can take advantage of in-season hunting and fishing opportunities throughout the year.

For more information on Land Between the Lakes, call 502-924-5602.