What's to Love About Nature Centers?

The main purposes of Nature Centers

• Nature Centers are in Natural Areas, which are the main attraction, and the buildings are gateways to information or to meet a docent or to go out and explore on your own
• Nature Centers have well-trained staff and dedicated docents who enhance visitor experiences in the Natural Area by human contact, especially for first-time visitors ... children are often introduced to Nature for the first time at these centers
• Nature Centers provide exhibits and displays which can help visitors learn on their own and experience aspects of Nature they would probably never see in the Natural Area
• Nature Centers are information stations ... for answers to questions from public and newspapers ... for adults to learn more about the local birds and plants that are found nearby, about the stars, the rocks, the hills and the hikes ... for disseminating trail guides
• Nature Centers are gathering places, centers for people interested in nature, places where transition begins from a human-oriented area to a natural one ... jumpoffs for all the wild that surrounds them

Why do we need rattlesnakes anyway?
The role of interpretation

• learn the difference between a gopher snake and a rattlesnake, why both belong here, and why they are not to be feared, but respected
• learn not to be afraid of the animals living there
• learn cultural history of area, see living history re-enactments, tour historical buildings (replicas or real)
• learn more about how the valley used to be before pioneers and major developments became a way of life
• friendly staff and well-trained and dedicated docents are glad to answer your questions about the area

Living on the Edge
Location, location, location

• exhibits are geared towards people who live on the edge of the wilderness
• for the thousands of school children who visit every year, it's their first experience in a natural area
• be introduced to Lesser Goldfinches and Pine Siskins coming to the feeders in the patio ... the people who visit are more likely to have a goldfinch than an eagle in their yard - we teach what's around us!
• provide immediate, but buffered, contact with different wilderness habitats -- walnut woodland, alluvial scrub, canyon, dry wash, chaparral, riparian woodland, montane forest, buffers can be parking lots

Real Reality Shows are NOT on TV
Focus on real life experiences

• why stay indoors? go out with a docent to look for real creatures along a real river
• the point with displays is to educate and to orient people [of all ages] to the real experience outside
• they [displays] are real, not Internet
• see live animals indigenous to Southern California in an enclosed wildlife sanctuary

What animal made that print I saw on the trail?
The function of displays

• young visitors love to touch the snakeskin and other hands-on items
• the only chance visitors might ever have to see reptiles and amphibians close-up
• both kids and adults enjoy and get excited about live mount taxidermy specimens ... "Look Dad, that's how big a bobcat is!"
• see a mountain lion you won't see hiking because it usually stays away from people, perching on a ledge, just like the one in the nature center
• observe a red-tailed hawk up close and personal, realize how strong its talons are and how powerful its beak ... it usually is soaring a hundred feet overhead.
• look at animal tracks and know whose they are

I want to plant all natives, which are the best ones?
Demonstration gardens

• displays of native plants, not just showy wildflowers, but inconspicuous and valuable members of our ecosystem
• landscape habitat gardens where volunteers learn to keep them looking good
• native plant sale, featuring hundreds of plants, many volunteers to answer questions and free handouts on planting locations and proper care
• demonstration gardens for fire-safe plantings and local wildflowers and shrubs, all labelled

What can I do with the kids this weekend? Or I'm homeschooling my kids, can we have a field trip?
Activities, so much to do, so little time

• family oriented programs ... docent-led nature walks ... plant walks, waterfall hikes, birding expeditions ... snowshoe walks ... geology walks, live reptile programs, seasonal events such as Full Moon Hikes and Meteor Shower Viewing
• learn the history of the San Gabriel Mountains, the old mining areas, the once-thriving resorts
• gain first-hand experience about the aftermath of fire
• school tours guided or unguided

Where's the bathroom? Can I drink water?
Services provided

• a wide array of nature books for adults and children on sale
• an excellent library available to the public on site
• trained naturalists, who lead school children and the public out to study anything animal, vegetable, or mineral -- and the human history, too
• sanctuary for birds and animals that can no longer live in their natural habitat due to circumstances of permanent injury, imprintation
• trail maintenance, bathrooms, protection of the natural resources, security, parking

These excerpts, sometimes taken verbatim, other times rewritten, are from letters and websites featured in the links on the webpages below. Amenities listed above can be found at at least one nature or visitor center, but not all.