Officials at the Dungeness River Audubon Center were the recent recipients of two grants totaling $20,000. River Center Executive Director Powell Jones and staff will be busy throughout the next few months using the funds to design and construct new signage for the park and upgrade its website to support the QR codes related to the signs.
The $15,000 grant from the Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund will be used toward the construction of the signs, whereas the remaining $5,000 grant from the Leiter Family Foundation will be funneled toward updating the center’s website.
“I have had the idea (to upgrade signs) for probably about a year and tried for the grant last year, but didn’t get it,” Jones said.
Between eight to 12 news signs will replace many of the weathered and outdated educational signs scattered throughout the 60-acre park. Quick response codes, also known as QR codes, will be incorporated into the signs’ design to allow visitors easy access to additional information.
“We can’t always be out there educating, so we hope the QR codes will be a useful resource for visitors,” Jones said. “We want the park to continue to evolve and we can use technology to drive education further.”
Although staff will be building the signs throughout the fall and winter, the actual implementation of the signs won’t be until spring, Jones said.
In addition to the QR codes, each sign will be constructed so different slides can be interchanged and thus offer new information for returning visitors.
Given the partners that govern the park include the Dungeness River Audubon Center, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society, the center and overall Railroad Bridge Park has an emphasis of education, Jones said. Each partner has a different educational focus, but they all come together to provide a wide array of information resulting in a mission “to inspire understanding, enjoyment and stewardship of the Olympic Peninsula’s unique natural and cultural resources, with emphasis on birds, rivers, fish and people.”
Because Railroad Bridge Park is privately owned, and therefore not a taxpayer-supported park, Jones explained the recent grants the center received are important because the park and center rely on such funding sources, its partners and private donations to function.
Despite being privately owned, Jones said the partners collaborate and “strive” to keep the area open to the public and “want the public to come experience” the area.
Railroad Bridge Park is unique in that is one of the few areas along the Dungeness River that offers “low bank” access for people to safely interact with the river, Jones said. The Dungeness River Audubon Center also is the only center in the county with a spawning salmon stream the staff can use to their advantage to further educate the public.
Holiday Nature Mart
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday-Saturday, Nov. 14-15.
Where: Dungeness River Audubon Center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road
Cost: Free
More info: Dungenessrivercenter.org or call 681-4076.
