Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
The Navarino Nature Center maintains 12 miles of recreational trails but plans to construct its first disability access trail and boardwalk this summer, according to Tim Ewing, executive director.
The NNC board of directors recently accepted a $214,000 bid from Miron Construction and is within about $20,000 of funding the project, said Ewing, who hopes two pending grants will provide the remaining funds.
When the trail project is completed, probably by the end of the year, physically challenged visitors to the NNC can travel a hard-packed limestone trail about 200 feet to Glenn’s Pond, where a 360-foot boardwalk will span the pond and connect to an existing trail back to the NNC.
Located 10 miles south of Shawano off Lindsten Road, the NNC is visited by 3,000 to 4,000 school children and 12,000 to 15,000 adults annually, Ewing said. The boardwalk/trail project is designed to allow physically challenged individuals to participate in the center’s environmental educational programs.
“We have very sandy soil here, which extremely limits where people using wheelchairs and walkers can go,” Ewing said. “This project will alleviate that and give everyone access to the prairie, pond and forest area immediately next to the center.”
The NNC building is Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. Within the Navarino Wildlife Area, there is ADA compliant observation deck overlooking Pikes Peak Flowage, a main staging area for 5,000 to 15,000 migratory sand hill cranes during the spring and fall, Ewing said.
There is a hunting blind on the McDonald Flowage that also is ADA compliant, Ewing said.
The NNC is a nonprofit and not directly funded by the state or Shawano County but through donations and grants. The Department of Natural Resources manages the surrounding 15,000-acre Navarino Wildlife Area and partners with the NNC on some trail projects.
Terry Moede, president of the Friends of Navarino Nature Center, called the boardwalk project “wonderful.”
“Anybody that crosses that pond has a beautiful view of the sunset. This project opens that area up for people like me who are getting a little older,” Moede said.
The boardwalk will be 8 feet wide and have two 20-foot observation circles over the pond to facilitate study and contemplation.
Some of the initial trail clearing will be done by Rawhide Ranch residents who have volunteered their labor on other projects over the years, Moede said.
“They’ve been a big help to us,” he said.
If the trail is completed, Ewing would like to dedicate it at the NNC’s annual open house in October; otherwise a dedication will be held later this year.
The project has been Ewing’s biggest assignment the past 12 months, he said.
“There’s been some discussion about adding a spur trail to connect this boardwalk to another boardwalk that crosses a bog nearby,” he said.
That would be a quarter-mile trail project that would require more fund raising and permits, he said.
“That’s what we do. We work with service groups and organizations in the area and write grants; and whether it’s a $1,000 or a $10,000 grant or donation, it all adds up,” Ewing said.