Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center /
Vancouver Trout Hatchery Talking Points
by Jeffrey Koenings, Ph.D., WDFW Director
October 10, 2002

• It's certainly a pleasure to be here today. Thanks for inviting me to this celebration, and let me help welcome you to the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center and Vancouver Trout Hatchery.

• I've said this many times during my time as the Department's Director: Not much else is more vital to the future health of our environment and the wildlife it supports than educating our young citizens about the importance of protecting and restoring our state's renewable natural resources.

• We all are aware of the many activities that compete for the attention of our youth and because of that there are many adults that have become disconnected from the out of doors and the resource therein. A real time example is what I experience when attending meetings of sports clubs in most areas of the state—the younger generations are missing and the elders have nobody to pass their resource knowledge on to.

• It is my gut feeling that people will protect something they feel passionately about and that passion is largely started early in life. I went through this with my own two daughters–who each got hooked on different activities that remain a large part of their lives. Each started down a path early in the middle school years and over time the activity has grown in importance—one connected to the out of doors and horses; and the other to art and music.

• The point being is that such connections start early in life and through continued exposure can last a lifetime and become a value that, in fact, defines their quality of life.

• That connection to nature, the love of the out of doors, the appreciation of that wild is what this learning center is all about. And once that connection is made, that value is established, that decision on the quality of life is made—then as adults they will protect and enhance those values.

• And I don't think I've seen an educational center that's more impressive than the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center.

• The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has joined with Clark Public Utilities, the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation, the Evergreen School District, and Clark College to make this education center what it is today: A stunning example of a public/private partnership that works.

• In the few years since we've worked together to create the environmental education center, more than 20,000 young students have come here to learn about the environment they live in, and perhaps form a life-long love of the natural world we live in.

• My hope is that in the years to come, tens of thousands more will visit the center and enjoy all that it has to offer, and that here and now we begin to fill in those missing generations.

• Those who have already visited here have learned the importance of our role in preserving nature's balance, and they've learned that through their actions they can make positive changes to the environment and thus to their quality of life.

• This environmental learning center is a great example of what happens when private/public partnerships are formed, and it's a reminder to me of the need to develop additional partnerships–because partnerships work.

• All of you here today are to be commended for investing the energy and resources necessary to bring this environmental learning center to fruition. The need for such learning centers – and for the kind of partnership that was formed to create it – will no doubt increase in years to come, and my department stands ready to embrace such collaborative efforts that help form future environmental stewards.

• This is true for communities throughout the state, not just in Vancouver or in Issaquah, where by the way we've also developed a successful partnership that educates visitors about our state's native fish resources and their habitats.

• Let's face it – government budgets are shrinking, and there isn't nearly enough funding to do all of the things that we want - and need - to do in the way of environmental stewardship.

• If we are to be successful in developing more places like the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center, then we first must be successful in developing public/private partnerships modeled after this very successful venture.

• We work hard at what we do, be it protecting the environment or at restoring salmon because it is work worth doing. But it is also worth pausing in our endeavors to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.

• So let's "pat ourselves on the back" for this environmental education center, and more importantly please enjoy all that this place of learning has to offer. Thank you for being here today!

Back to index