Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell presented the 2013 Partners in Conservation awards at a ceremony in Washington on Jan. 16. The secretary honored 20 partnership projects that have demonstrated exemplary natural resource conservation efforts through public-private cooperation.

Four partnerships nominated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, received awards.

Great Plains Nature Center is a wild oasis in an urban setting. Each year, the center provides outdoor recreation and educational opportunities to hundreds of thousands of visitors. The facility is a one-of-a-kind partnership that began in 1988.

For more information on the center, visit http://www.gpnc.org.