The National Elk Refuge expects to get $14 million this year for a long-overdue project to replace its visitor center and plans to build a new Nature Discovery Center in its place.
A fundraising effort organized by the Friends of the National Elk Refuge is ramping up to provide additional money for the planned facility.
The federal funding for the project should come through sometime this year after lawmakers in Washington, D.C., approve a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
After numerous failed attempts in the past decade to replace the current center — a relic of the 1960s that originally served as office for the Wyoming Department of Transportation — it’s “really exciting” to plan for the refuge’s future, said Raena Parsons, the refuge’s visitor services manager.
“We want to be able to provide a hands-on refuge experience that helps people connect with nature in a new way,” Parsons said. “We want people to come in, learn something and ultimately get them back on the landscape.”
A $39 Million Project Takes Shape
The federal money earmarked for the project was approved as part of a federal spending bill called the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020.
While that $14 million might be enough to replace what’s there now, the vision for the refuge’s future visitor center is more ambitious — and that’s where Friends of the National Elk Refuge comes into play.
The Jackson-based nonprofit was organized this past spring to make the dreams of a new Nature Discovery Center a reality by raising $25 million to supplement the federal funding for the replacement project, said Patrick Starich, executive director.
The group’s fundraising efforts kicked off this year, with a goal to secure $2 million that will cover soliciting requests for proposals from various architecture firms and final drawings for the center.
What ultimately happens with the new visitor center will depend on the success of the fundraising efforts by the Friends, Starich said. “We want to provide something special; something new and exciting that will serve as a resource for the next century.”
Creating One of Jackson’s ‘Go-To’ Places
Replacing the visitor center is long overdue, particularly because it was never designed with this use in mind. Various systems in the building have begun to show their age, while the bathroom facilities are particularly taxed during peak months in the summer and winter when 1,000 to 2,000 people visit each day, Parsons said.
The refuge currently clocks about 500,000 visits each year, though a nature discovery center would ideally draw in even more people to learn more about the animals, habitat restoration and the conservation goals of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Parsons said.
More than 5,000 elk migrate to the refuge each winter, while it’s also home to bison, wolves, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, cutthroat trout, trumpeter swans and many other critters.
The actual size of the visitor center won’t change much, but the goal is to better accommodate more of the millions of tourists who flock to the valley each year, along with Wyomingites.
Early discussions for the future building have included a multi-purpose meeting facility and expanded educational resources for local school groups that visit the refuge.
“We want to make this one of the go-to places in Jackson with resources for the community, as well,” Starich said. “It’s a gift to the American people.”
A conceptual image of a new $39 million Nature Discovery Center that will replace a 60-year-old visitor center at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming. (Mithun Architects via Friends of the National Elk Refuge) 
A conceptual image of a new $39 million Nature Discovery Center that will replace a 60-year-old visitor center at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming. (Mithun Architects via Friends of the National Elk Refuge) 
A conceptual image of a new $39 million Nature Discovery Center that will replace a 60-year-old visitor center at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming. (Mithun Architects via Friends of the National Elk Refuge) 
A conceptual image of a new $39 million Nature Discovery Center that will replace a 60-year-old visitor center at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming. (Mithun Architects via Friends of the National Elk Refuge) 
A conceptual image of a new $39 million Nature Discovery Center that will replace a 60-year-old visitor center at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming. (Mithun Architects via Friends of the National Elk Refuge)
Concepts Of A Plan
During one of the many iterations of replacement talks back in 2019, a group solicited Seattle-based Mithun Architects to provide some conceptual drawings that illustrate one vision for the new center. But Starich cautioned that these drawings are by no means final plans.
Design discussions are still underway.
A lot of ideas are still being tossed around for the future center. Some of these include an immersive and technology-rich experience that allows visitors to virtually get close to the elk even when they’re up in the high country, along with an expanded elevated observation deck that’s fully accessible and usable year-round and connects to a boardwalk and trail system.
Money raised by the Friends could go toward paying for things like the architectural drawings or the furnishings and exhibits so the refuge could reserve most of the federal funding to cover the construction of the new building and demolition of the current building, Parsons said.
Still, she added, the project is being considered in two phases “just in case” some of the loftiest ideas aren’t feasible.
Timeline For New Center
While construction could start as soon as next year, realistically the new center won’t fully open until at least 2028 or 2029, Parsons said.
Even amid all of these planned changes, one thing will remain the same: The refuge will be free for all visitors.
In the meantime, the capital campaign is ramping up now, Starich said.
The friends group is starting to contact potential donors and will continue to collect a “breadth of ideas” from a range of stakeholders about this once-in-a-century project, he said. “We want to work very closely with the community, we want everyone to be onboard.”
