“What’s more, our artistic dioramas are accurate reflections of actual animal habitats that are also teaching tools of conservation, science, and art. Viewers can learn about wildlife management and the role artists and hunters play in preserving wild places and animals for future generations.”

Humans have been hunters from the beginning of time. Many pictographs, petroglyphs, and other artifacts document the use of animals for their survival. A wide range of pictographs in Central Washington, including Lake Chelan and the Columbia River Regions, captured visual examples of the relationship between early hunters in the area and native wildlife.

“Preserving our wilderness and natural world is more critical than ever and is a responsibility of all citizens,” Kollmeyer said.

President Theodore Roosevelt, along with other sportsmen, was instrumental in crafting the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation in the early 1900’s. The policies of this model created the world’s most successful wildlife and habitat conservation program that has rescued hundreds of wildlife species from extinction.

The new museum brings nature indoors, providing a sensory journey with unique sounds and sights stimulating visceral responses. Whether it is the howl of an Arctic wolf, the bitter cold wind of central Alaska, or the honk of a Canada goose, nature is recreated using the latest museum technology. Observers are immediately immersed in nature, perhaps rekindling memories of their own adventures in the natural world.