Neilson Spearhead Center

  

The Neilson Spearhead Center is open to the public and is a great place for nature enthusiasts!

 What is the Neilson Spearhead Center?

The Neilson Spearhead Center (NSC) is located approximately 11 miles southwest of Bemidji, Minnesota, and is a non-profit 501(c)3 enviornmental science facility owned and managed by the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society (MHAS). It includes 460 acres of land in Hubbard County (including the shoreline of Spearhead Lake).

The land was acquired by George W. Neilson in the 1930’s. In 1978, George Neilson’s daughter, Katharine Neilson Cram, donated the property to The Nature Conservancy, which later deeded it to the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society.

The NSC sit includes a learnign center area, parking area and an assortment of historic and more recent buildings serving a variety of purposes. The following aerial map includes a red “X” which marks where the caretakers residence, educational lab, and canoe access are located.

The Neilson Spearhead Center includes 460 acres in Hubbard County, MN, most of which includes the entire shoreline of Spearhead Lake as shown on the map. The red "X" marks where the learning center is located (earth home, education lab, canoe access, etc.)

Protected Forever

    The MHAS board of directors acknowleges that the NSC is a very special place that should be protected into the future. In order to ensure this, the  MHAS entered it into a perpetual conservation easement with the Minnesota Land Trust on April 6, 1999 – the 100th such agreement in Minnesota! Today the NSC property remains in MHAS ownership but the easement “rus with the title” ensuring protrection remains in place regardless of future land ownership.

Vision and Goals

The vision and goals for the NSC are as follows:

-  To maintain the integrity of the natural communities present on the NSC property.

-  To provide and be a resource for education in environmental science.

-  To conduct and be a resource for research in areas of environmental science.

Environmental Education and Research

Environmental Education Lab

 The NSC has hosted the Young Naturalist Program, which is a well-received and highly successful program that NSC has been providing since the early 1980’s. Goals for program participants include:

-  Developing a sense of “wonder” and “joy” for nature

-  Learning to think ecologically: to consider the interconnections of the biotic and abiotic elements of nature

-  Engaging the unexpected, to be receptive to new knowledge and new ways of thinking

-  Developing a sense of the importance of wild places

-  Learning the names and habits of common Spearhead plants and animals

-  Caring for and respecting life and learning to be goods stewards of the land

-  Emphasizing children and families through experimental learning for awareness of the natural environment.

Recreational Opportunities at NSC

Year-round outdoor recreational opportunities are enjoyed by many. Hiking, fishing and cross-country skiing prove to be the most popular. Snowmobiling, hunting and horse-back-riding are not allowed on the property.

For information on the Audubon Society and its Minnesota chapters, visit http://mn.audubon.org/.