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<br />Fec~era~ Priorities 2007 Natura~ Resources <br /> <br />classrooms will serve formal and informal education programs currently supported by local <br />~ nonprofit organizations, Eugene and Bethel School Districts, Northwest Youth Corps, City of <br />Eugene summer camps, home-schooled students, as well as a growing community audience <br />of life-long. learners. <br />The Field Science Laboratory is a component of a i <br />_larger facility. At full build out, the West Eugene <br />Wetlands Environmental Education Center campus will <br />include- a laboratory, -greenhouse, auditorium, exhibit ; <br />hall, gift shop,. reference library, classrooms, meeting ~ <br />..rooms, catering kitchen, and staff and volunteer offices. <br />The $12 million facility will strive to meet the. highest. } <br />standards of Leadership in Energy and Environmental <br />I Design (LEED) certification as a demonstration of <br />sustainable building ,techniques applied in an <br />economically sound and environmentally friendly ~, <br />manner. The sustainable design features embody the Center's ecological vision to <br />demonstrate that humans can live responsibly with the land by creating a realistic model that <br />could be emulated in the neighboring industrial, commercial, and residential complexes. <br /> <br />National Importance ,1 <br />The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is one of several federal agencies that have <br />articulated a national vision -for environmental education. The BEM's Environmental <br />~ Educations National Strategy (1995) states, "Public participation in BLM Environmental <br />Education Programs will lead to healthier and more productive ecosystems and to better <br />j educated citizens willing to assist the BLM in solving and preventing complex environmental <br />problems on public lands." Furthermore, the West Eugene Wetlands site has been identified <br />as one of 18 proposed BLM Environmental Education Support Centers nationwide.- This <br />federal responsibility is further expressed in the activities as identified in the Environmental <br />Education Act (public law 101-619, November 16, 1990), as well as the U.S. Fish and ~ } <br />Wildlife. Service participation in both formal. and .informal education-oriented partnerships <br />,, <br />identified in FWM#2334, 131 FW 5 Educational Partnerships. <br />r `i <br />The success of national acts such as the National: Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water , <br />Act; MigratoryBird Conservation Act; Fish and Wildlife Act, Refuge Recreation Act, Land and <br />Water Conservation Fund, Endangered Species Act, and Emergency Wetlands Resources. <br />Act Ex. Ord. No. 12996, and the resources these acts were intended to protect, is dependent , <br />on citizens who have knowledge, understanding, experience, and engagement with the <br />..resources... ~ ~- <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />38 r,_. <br /> <br />r' <br />