Drawn to Nature: Visit to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Inspires Young Artist
By Brent Lawrence, a public affairs specialist in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region.
Christin Engelberth’s class project led her down a new path, both literally and figuratively.
The Pacific Northwest College of Arts senior drew a challenging assignment for her Center for Design class project. She was asked to turn the “Big Six” uses of National Wildlife Refuges into artistic representations.
Those Big Six uses, which are outlined in the refuge system’s operating principles, are hunting, fishing, photography, wildlife observation, education and interpretation.
Turning those concepts into illustrations would be a challenge for anyone, but it was particularly so for Christin. By her own admission, she’s not exactly the outdoorsy type. Born in Germany, she spent most of her childhood in Texas before moving to Portland, Oregon, for college. Living in downtown Portland with public transportation as her main means of travel, she had never visited a National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Northwest.
So how can an artistically inclined woman who wants to write and illustrate children’s books for a living quickly embrace the purpose of National Wildlife Refuges and turn it into art? In 10 weeks?
It started with a trip down a path at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Eric Anderson, the deputy project leader for the Ridgefield NWR Complex, took her on an educational walk around part of the refuge.
Stopping at the entry kiosk, he explained the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. He explained how the Big Six uses fit into management of a National Wildlife Refuge.
Eric explained the history of the refuge’s location and its significance to local Native American Tribes. He pointed out where Lewis and Clark Expedition camped in 1805 and told stories about what they wrote in their journals about the waterfowl that were “emensely noumerous, and their noise horid.” We explored the Cathlapotle Plankhouse and marveled over the hand-hewn logs. We discussed the refuge’s role in protecting habitat for the dusky Canada goose and other waterfowl, as well as the federally threatened Columbian white-tailed deer.
He explained that hundreds of people annually take advantage of waterfowl hunting on the refuge. Eric noted that thousands of school kids come out every year for outdoor education classes. He shared that tens of thousands of people use the auto tour route to see wildlife and take photos. Ridgefield is the very definition of public lands being available for everyone.
Christin’s takeaway from the trip?
