EDUCATION

Inspiring the Next Generation

Essential to the long-term restoration of pollinator habitats is the introduction and education of our children to the world of pollinators. Using the enchanting attractiveness of the butterfly, children learn about the existence of pollinators and how their busy activity is so beneficial to the food chain for humanity. Every type of exhibit provides a priceless opportunity for children to learn, whether that is exposure through presentations at fair exhibits, permanent flight houses and discovery centers, sanctuary city displays, or in-school visits and the distribution to the classroom of low-maintenance growth kits that make it possible for children to raise living butterflies in the controlled safety of their classrooms so they can observe each stage of a butterfly from egg, to caterpillar (larva), right through to the emergence of a mature butterfly. The entire process of metamorphosis captures the imagination of both child and adult alike, and imprints an awareness and reverence for nature at an early stage in the child's own development.

FAIR EXHIBITS

Engaging the Public

While fairs frequently last for only 9 or 10 days during the late summer and fall, they are frequently visited by tens of thousands of visitors over that time. This presents an extraordinary opportunity to present an exhibit to the public that is engaging, educational, and fun.

For the last two years, during the Southeast Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, Idaho, WingsRising as been given the opportunity by the fairground authorities to build an exhibit for the public to visit without any associated rental fees for the space allotted to the exhibit.   The initial plan was to combine our educational mission with our in-field logistical support for the Monarch tag and release science study directed by Dr. David James of Washington State University, Prosser. This initial planning had mixed results. 

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2022 Southeast Idaho State Fair

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During this 9 day fair, over 10,000 visitors spent time in our exhibit. We released Monarchs at 12:30pm, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm each day. We brought approximately 1250 Monarchs to tag and release. Unfortunately, sometime overnight on the 3rd day of the fair, the exhibit was hit by vandalism that slashed the screens of the flight houses containing the adult Monarchs not yet tagged for release. We lost more than half of the Monarchs scheduled for release through the night. Eventually, we tagged and released 520 Monarchs that year. This left us with a conundrum. The  educational component was resoundingly successful, but the ongoing science project was unnecessarily inhibited by being located at the fair. We learned that our mission to advance education may not coincide with our mission for in-field logistical support of scientific projects. While we initially determined not to return to the fair with the tag and release program, over the winter we decided that it was worth another try if all of the Monarchs were tagged before being placed on exhibit prior to release.

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2023 Southeast Idaho State Fair

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Once again, the fair authorities were kind enough to grant us exhibit space without charge. We brought over 5,000 Monarchs for tag and release purposes, in addition to an educational exhibit related to the life cycle of Monarchs and pollinator education. Unbeknownst to us or the fair, the city conducted a mosquito abatement spray overnight on the first day of the fair. By midmorning, we had hundreds of Monarchs dead or dying from the pesticide use to control mosquitoes. Since our priority was the tag and release program, we immediately closed down the exhibit and moved the remaining living Monarchs about 15 miles to an agricultural area in Pingree, Idaho. With the generous assistance of the Butterfly Haven, we tagged and released the remaining adult Monarchs. Overall, we released 3990 Monarchs. Once again, attempting to combine our educational mission with our science mission did not go well. This does not mean that fair exhibits should be abandoned. It merely means that our planning going forward needs to focus exclusively on one mission goal at a time. 

PERMANENT EXHIBITS

Flight Houses & Discovery Centers (i.e. Pollinator Museums)

Nothing communicates the awe and wonder of pollinator populations more than seeing them up close in their natural habitats. That is what we do through the location and support of Butterfly Flight Houses and Discovery Centers.

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COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO

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Beginning in the Northwest of the United States, WingsRising is developing plans to bring a "RiseUp!" lepidopterarium (immersive Butterfly Flight House) and Pollinator Discovery Center) to (or near) Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Ideally, the overall attraction, with all of its complimentary features, will be sensitively positioned within a healing botanical garden. The facility will feature two 8,000-10,000 square foot flight houses, one for domestic/indigenous butterflies and one for exotic butterflies from around the world. Each individual flight house will have in residence between 4,000 to 5,000 butterflies of 20+ varieties released and in flight every day through the months of May through October each year.

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The adjoining discovery center will house such attractions as:

Butterfly Nursery/Science Lab

Exotic Bird Sanctuary

Hummingbird Courtyard & Hideaway 

Working Bee Hive Displays

A Bug Zoo

Butterfly Pavilion (Mounted) from around the world.

Nature Video Arcade of pollinators in action

Garden Center for pollinator host plants

Food Court (of food we would not have but for pollinators)

Gift Shop

Handicap accessible Living Butterfly maze

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PINGREE, IDAHO

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Pingree Idaho is currently home to the Butterfly Haven, a charming butterfly flight house for domestic butterflies operating from May through October each year. The Butterfly Haven is approximately 8,000 sq. ft. of winding paths through near tropical indigenous flora, with water falls creating an abiding peace within the intimate natural wonder. WingsRising endeavors to assist in the relocation and expansion of this facility to accommodate many of the discovery center elements itemized for the Coeur d'Alene facility. Studies are ongoing for relocation of the Butterfly Haven to a facility near a larger metropolitan area to make viewership possible to a larger number of people.

BOISE, IDAHO

Long-term planning for the Northwest region would be remiss without the placement (potentially) of a flight house and discovery center (similar to the one planned for Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) within the greater metropolitan region of Boise, Idaho. WingsRising considers this a project with great promise as it phases in its regional planning for the Northwest. It is anticipated that facility designs, functionality, and efficiencies will be refined in the first phase implementation of the Coeur d'Alene facility that can be duplicated at lower start-up and implementation costs in Boise. 

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Join us in the development of this exciting educational opportunity! 

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