Kansas Wetlands Education Center 2021 by the numbers:
• Drop-in visitors - 6,438 (19 per day)
• Onsite programs (number of participants) - 265 (3,163)
• Zoom programs (number of participants) - 111 (4,689)
• Outreach programs (number of participants) - 194 (4,188)
• Facility rentals/Meetings (number of participants) - 17 (208)
• Tradeshow/festival booths (Estimated contacts) - 7 (811)
• Volunteers Utilized - 113
• Total number served - 19,610
Education Programs
• Conducted 570 total programs, including 344 total school programs with area schools.
• Regular programming with USD 428, Home school coops, Great Bend Recreation Commission, Summer Library programs, 4-H Water Ambassadors, and Fort Hays State University Elementary Science Methods training.
Education programs
• Published Ava: A Year of Adventure in the Life of an American Avocet children’s book. 1,000 copies printed thanks to Dorothy M. Morrison Foundation.
• Held Virtual Wings & Wetlands Festival with 3 days of virtual programming and 262 paid registrants.
• Started a Nature Book Club in partnership with the Great Bend Public Library, with five book discussions.
• Held virtual second Grade Wetlands Day for 2020-2021 and In-person 2nd Grade Wetlands Day for 2021-2022.
• Notable programming: Ava children’s book school library programs, FHSU Kansas Academy of Math and Science Summer Camp, Wichita Public Schools Virtual Fieldtrip Adventures, Kansas Day puppet show video.
• Held 4 STEM Drop-in days during off-school days.
• Maintained several citizen science programs: Cheyenne Bottoms Frog Watch Chapter, North American Butterfly Association Butterfly Count, monarch butterfly tagging, Cheyenne Bottoms Christmas Bird Count.
• Offered 116 paid van tours plus 356 unpaid tours as part of program.
Other accomplishments
• Hosted five travel writer groups in cooperation with Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• Featured articles in FHSU Roar Magazine and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Magazine.
• Produced Spanish translation booklets of KWEC Exhibit.
Like everyone else, the Kansas Wetlands Eduction Center has grappled with COVID-19, but things are slowly recovering at the facility dedicated to promoting awareness in the region’s rich wildlife heritage, said center Director Curtis Wolf.
“I didn’t come last year,” he told the Great Bend City Council Tuesday night while giving his 2021 report. That was because there wasn’t much to report.
“As for many businesses and organizations, 2021 was a recovery year for the Kansas Wetlands Education Center,” he said. “Still working through the COVID pandemic that began in 2020, attendance, educational programming, and special events continue to slowly evolve to a new normal.”
The center is crucial in keeping Cheyenne Bottoms at the forefront of peoples’ minds, he said.
“It is a unique quality of life benefit for Barton County,” Wolf said. It goes beyond that as well, and is a destination for people from all over.
He offered the following summary:
• Total contacts for 2021 were 19,610, which is a 6,000 person increase from 2020. But, this was the second lowest annual contacts recorded by KWEC since it opened in 2009.
• Program numbers totaled 570 programs in 2021, which was 217 more than were offered in 2021 than 2020, he said. However, the total was the fifth lowest
since 2010.
• Special events in 2021 included: the annual Butterfly Festival-monarch tagging with more than 200 participants, quarterly drop-in science, math, engineering and technology (STEM) Days, Perseid Meteor Shower Watch Party, KWEC Holiday Open House, Nature Discover Summer Kids Camps, Gifts of the Garden Workshop series, Nature Book Club in partnership with Great Bend Public Library, Summer Library programs and FHSU Astronomy Star Gazing program. • KWEC also organized and hosted a virtual Wings and Wetlands Birding Festival in cooperation with several other organizations.
• A highlight for 2021 was the publication of a children’s book titled Ava: A Year of Adventure in the Life of an American Avocet.
A book launch event was held and 1,000 copies of the book were printed using funds from the Dorothy M. Morrison Foundation. Books were given out to the public, as well as, local classrooms and libraries.
• Other accomplishments included completing a Spanish translation of the KWEC Exhibits and hosting a Kansas Junior Duck Stamp Exhibit.
Wolf also looked at the year ahead and noted the calender is a busy one. Many of the same events are returning in 2022, along with some new ones as well.
“The Kansas Wetlands Education Center wants to thank you for your continued support and partnership,” Curtis said, noting a strong relationship with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “We look forward to our continued partnerships and exciting prospects for 2022.”
The Kansas Wetlands Education Center, affiliated with Fort Hays State University’s Werth College of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, is located 10 miles northeast of Great Bend at 592 NE K-156. It is operated by Fort Hays State University personnel.
The facility overlooks the 19,857 acre Cheyenne Bottom Wildlife Area managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Park and Tourism and the 7,694 acre Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy.
It can be reached at 877-243-9268 or wetlandscenter.fhsu.ed.
