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CROSSLAKE 鈥� The National Loon Center in Crosslake recently announced that U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith each requested that a Senate appropriations subcommittee designate $1,700,000 in congressionally directed spending for construction of the loon center鈥檚 new campus.

鈥淪enators Klobuchar and Smith have shown their commitment to protecting loons and freshwater ecosystems while also supporting a significant economic asset in the Brainerd Lakes Area that will educate and engage visitors and residents alike,鈥� NLC Executive Director Jon Mobeck said in a news release.

The NLC has been a part of Crosslake, a city roughly 24 miles north of Brainerd, Minnesota, since its founding in 2017. It is a destination for study and education on loons and their habitats, as well as freshwater conservation.

The loon center has been in its current location at Crosslake Town Square since 2021, thanks to a donation from Crosswoods Development. Now the center is looking to make a big step forward as it prepares for a scheduled opening of a standalone campus in about 18 months.

During the inaugural Minnesota Loons and Lakes Festival in June, Mobeck said they hope to break ground on the new facility yet this year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e made kind of a bold commitment to say, 鈥楤efore these loons fly out of here in the fall, we want our shovels to go in the ground on the loon center,'鈥� Mobeck said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very close now to actually making this facility happen.鈥�

Tom Fraki / Echo Journal

The National Loon Center originally began as an idea to improve the city and community of Crosslake, but it quickly became something much bigger over its short history.

The idea for the center first came out of a group of about 80 community participants organized by the Minnesota Design Team in 2016 to generate concepts for improving the Crosslake area.

鈥淔rom that, they came up with all kinds of great ideas of different things to do. Many of them have come to fruition, but one of them was this wild idea to create a national center,鈥� Mobeck said.

Being so closely tied to community improvement, the NLC has received a great deal of local support over the past years.

鈥淚 can say right away because of that, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce became the biggest advocate. And they really helped to get (the center) where it is today,鈥� he said.

Mobeck started with the National Loon Center in January 2021, the same year it moved into The Nest, its current location in Crosslake Town Square.

With the Nation Loon Center being located in the heart of lake country, it is focused on research and education regarding both loons and freshwater conservation.

鈥淥ur goal is to protect loons and freshwater habitats, and to both promote responsible recreation and encourage people to take action in protecting loons and freshwater ecosystems. So we鈥檙e trying to engender stewardship among people who love the loon and extend that love to preserving the freshwater ecosystems that are dwindling around the planet,鈥� Mobeck said.

In its ongoing work, the National Loon Center collaborates with the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Northern Waters Land Trust and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

From its 2021-2023 operating seasons, the National Loon Center has seen 167 loons banded and 132 loon territories studied.

Among its educational programs is the Share Our Shoreline program, which emphasizes the need for the natural shoreline vegetation that is necessary for loon habitats and clean lake water.

The NLC also hopes to teach visitors about the dangers associated with using lead tackle, as one in five loon deaths is due to lead poisoning.

The loon center is able to bring visitors onto the lake with its StewardShip floating classroom. With this, visitors can take guided pontoon tours of Cross Lake to learn about loons in their natural habitats.

Between 2021 and 2023, the StewardShip program brought 2,000 loon pontoon passengers onto Cross Lake.

For its 2024 season, the NLC expanded its StewardShip program to the Gull Chain of Lakes with loon cruises held at Cragun鈥檚 Resort in East Gull Lake.

Also new for 2024 was the inaugural Minnesota Loons and Lakes Festival in Crosslake that was held Thursday-Saturday, June 20-22. The festival featured loon-centered arts and events throughout Crosslake.

"We're going to make this as fun as possible. The one thing it will be is fun," Mobeck said at the June 21 Eco-Expo Environmental Fair. "It's going to be up to us to keep building this over the future. We're going to do it every year; it's going to get better."

The International Wolf Center in Ely and the National Eagle Center in Wabasha have provided a blueprint for making the National Loon Center campus a reality.

Based on figures gathered from the IWC and NEC, the National Loon Center is estimating its new facility could bring in up to 200,000 visitors annually, bringing a significant economic boost in tourism dollars to Minnesota and the Brainerd lakes area.

The National Loon Center campus will be located just west of Crosslake Town Square between Pioneer Drive and County State Aid Highway 66.

It will feature a 15,000-square-foot sustainable facility, including indoor and outdoor exhibits, a bird sanctuary, a research institute, a three-level ecosystem tower, classrooms and a portion of the property to be set aside as an untouched natural area with walkways.

The National Loon Center is working with Dimensional Innovations to create changing exhibits that look to bring visitors back more than once.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really, really cool stuff. So the interior experience will be first-class, really high-end. The purpose is to make sure there鈥檚 a heightened wow factor for anybody who enters the building, but also that there are enough interesting and changing things to make people want to come back more than once,鈥� Mobeck said.

The NLC hoped to receive a $6.5 million bonding bill request from the state to reach the campus鈥� $18.5 million total project cost. However, in May of this year, Minnesota lawmakers failed to pass the projects bill.

Mobeck said the loon center is still fundraising for up to another $2 million to go toward future exhibits.

鈥淚 do want to encourage people to know that whether you鈥檙e an individual, a foundation or a corporation, there are opportunities to put their names behind these world-class exhibits. That would help us make sure that the exhibit experience is the best it can be,鈥� he said.

For a project of its size, Mobeck said it has been great to see such wide support for the new loon center campus.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have the project be so widely supported, even in terms of socioeconomics and political backgrounds. Everybody loves the National Loon Center, we鈥檝e got some great support,鈥� he said.

The loon center had recently urged organizations and individuals to send letters of support to the Minnesota senators to request federal funding from the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the NLC.

Among those who sent letters were Crosslake Mayor Dave Nevin, Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Tyler Glynn, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Division Director David Benke, Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District Manager Melissa Barrick, Audubon Upper Mississippi River Vice President Rob Schultz, Freshwater Executive Director Michelle Stockness, Gull Chain of Lakes Association Board Chair Steve Frawley, Sourcewell Chief Regional Solutions Officer Dr. Paul Drange and Whitefish Area Property Owners Association President Anthony Coffey.