NATURE CENTER WOULD BE A GOOD ASSET

Cape Girardeau County officials will offer the Missouri Conservation Commission a deal it can't afford to pass up when the commission meets here Jan. 22.

Representatives of county government, the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association and Southeast Missouri State University will propose that a nature center be built in Cape Girardeau County's North County Park. There are good indications that the conservation commission will approve the plan.

A nature center in the park long has been discussed, but for the first time a definitive plan is in place. It is one that should prove attractive.

The county proposes to issue bonds for financing the center and will build it. The state would then make payments to retire the bonds and operate the center under a no-cost, long-term lease. The county has available 310 acres of land in the park for the center.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones raised some good points in a letter outlining the proposal. He pointed out that the center would provide hands-on experience for students and others from at least a 25-county region. It would improve the conservation department's ability to sell conservation and the environment, would provide the opportunity for research in wildlife biology and draw attention to environmental awareness issues, Jones said.

The educational benefits from a nature center would be many, and that is why Southeast Missouri State University is behind one. It also would attract tourists, so the Industrial Recruitment Association sees benefits.

The Conservation Department operates five nature centers. They are in Jefferson City, Springfield, Kirkwood, Blue Springs and St. Joseph. Each has classrooms, an exhibit area, and an auditorium, and nature trails typically surround them.

Making the offer even more appealing is the fact that the university would consider equipping nature-center laboratories and offering some of its biology courses there, At the same time, the school could use the center to help train teachers in how to use the outdoors in teaching science.

A nature center would complement the Missouri Conservation Department's regional offices building in the North County Park and give the department a significant presence here. It would be a great asset that would promote the importance of outdoor conservation in Southeast Missouri, a region that is blessed with a wide variety of outdoor attractions.