New learning center planned for Muscatatuck wildlife refuge

SEYMOUR, Ind. -- A new learning center at southern Indiana's Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge is expected to open this fall.\nGroundbreaking for the new center is scheduled during a ceremony Friday to mark the 100th anniversary of the national refuge system.\nThe 4,500-square-foot Conservation Learning Center will be added to the visitor's center with money and labor donated by the Muscatatuck Wildlife Society Foundation.\nThe center will have a 100-seat auditorium, two classrooms, an exhibit area, a sheltered center court, covered deck and new restrooms.\nThe 7,800-acre Muscatatuck refuge, about 50 miles north of Louisville, Ky., was established in 1966 and is among 540 similar refuges across the country.\n"We're lucky in that most of our refuge is accessible to the public," Muscatatuck Manager Lee Herzberger said. "A lot of refuges are larger than ours, but they're not nearly as accessible.\n"We have nine miles of roads and 8-foot-wide trails, which makes it very easy for people to wander around and get a good look at all the wildlife."\nThousands of migrating birds and waterfowl stop at the refuge every year. A popular sight lately has been a pair of bald eagles, which mated at the refuge last season and returned this year.