Eagle Bluff Marks its 45th Year with Reunion

CARROLTON TOWNSHIP, FILLMORE COUNTY — Eagle Bluff, founded by Joe Deden in 1980 as the Root River Hardwood Forest Interpretive Center – later named the Southern Minnesota Forest Resource Center – originally focused on adult education topics such as woodland management, growing shiitake mushrooms and the like.

The organization was rebranded as Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center in 1997 with a mission to “empower people to care for the earth and each other.” The nonprofit has since gone on to serve thousands of youth and adults over the years with its focus on outdoor education.  

As part of the 45th anniversary celebration, former staff gathered for the weekend of June 6-8, 2025. This family-friendly event brought together 60 former staff and their families with some 17 current staff, offering a meaningful opportunity to reconnect, share memories and enjoy outdoor activities on its 250-acre campus. 

“As we celebrate Eagle Bluff’s 45th anniversary, this staff reunion is a powerful reminder of the lasting impact this place has had on so many lives,” said Colleen Foehrenbacher, Eagle Bluff’s executive director. 

“Bringing together former and current staff highlights the deep connections, shared memories and continued passion for outdoor education that define our community.”

Many former staff visited sites on campus that had special meaning to them, as evidenced by this group’s visit to the overlook of the Root River Valley. (Photo courtesy of Eagle Bluff)

Eagle Bluff is most noted for its overnight Outdoor School program in which public and private school groups stay overnight for three days of immersive outdoor education and adventure. 

Place-based, hands-on experiences led by Environmental Education Fellows encourage students to expand their connections to the natural world and to each other. 

In addition to the Outdoor School, Eagle Bluff hosts a Nature Preschool – a kindergarten readiness program for children aged three to five. Founded in 2020, the Nature Preschool uses hands-on nature-based learning with a curriculum rooted in daily outdoor exploration. 

The reunion was organized in an effort to reconnect those who have worked at the center throughout the years, as well as their families.

Much like students who attend Outdoor School programming, attendees stayed in the dorms, ate at the dining hall and participated in a variety of outdoor activities such as canoeing, pond exploration or the newly re-constructed East Ropes course. 

The reunion reconnected former and current staff, several seen gathered here in the dining hall. (Photo by Laura Ahmed)

A staff social on Saturday evening created space for large-group interaction, with a game of “Bluff Bingo” setting off a round of rapid conversations, in a style not unlike speed-dating. The game highlighted experiences common to many staff throughout the years and adventures that naturally arose from working with wildlife, on ropes courses and in the river, woods, and prairie. 

Environmental Education Fellowship program

Those in attendance held (or still hold) a variety of positions at Eagle Bluff, but many were alumni of its Environmental Education Fellowship program. 

Each year Eagle Bluff selects about ten young professionals to become Environmental Education Fellows who complete a yearlong training program where participants gain experience in a variety of roles as outdoor educators, public speakers, hosts for visiting groups, and camp counselors. 

Fellows also participate in seminars related to teaching, curriculum design, interpretation, and natural history, which they can choose to apply as credits towards a Graduate Certificate of Environmental Education through Hamline University in St. Paul. 

The cohort of Fellows (formerly titled “Naturalists”) live on Eagle Bluff’s campus in a communal setting. Communal living naturally leads to many shared experiences among an often tight-knit group of colleagues. Such memories were shared throughout the weekend – stories of midnight strolls, tipped canoes, lost keys, wildlife encounters and unexpected teaching moments. 

Upon returning to Eagle Bluff, several people noted how the campus itself has a way of sticking in one’s memory. “I did this a thousand times,” Carly Crowley (on staff from 2015 to 2017) recalled on walking to the Discovery Center over the weekend.

To return to a meaningful place unlocks memories and feelings in a way that allows you to relive them. I felt this myself, as a staff member who has recently returned to the organization. I found myself absentmindedly humming songs that I first listened to upon arriving at Eagle Bluff. 

Some staff brought their families to the reunion. Former fellow and current board member Austin Bauer uses a visit to the Pond as a teachable moment for his son. (Photo by Laura Ahmed)

Eagle Bluff experience shapes everyone differently

Jordan Thompson (2013-14 cohort) shared: “it was one of my happiest times . . . the community of people was so great. I came to Eagle Bluff a pretty shy, introverted person and the Fellowship pushed me to get out of my comfort zone . . . I came out a lot more confident.” 

For others, the Fellowship marked the beginning of their careers in fields related to Environmental Education. Some have continued teaching, such as Ana Furnari (2021-22 Fellow), who currently works as an Elementary Science Educator at the Green Adventure Project in Charlottesville, Va. 

Others branched out to use their educational experience in related ways. Gael Zembal (2012-13 cohort) shared that through the Fellowship she “learned so many on-the-job skills that I still use today,” and recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary of working at the 9 Mile Creek Watershed District in the Twin Cities’ southwest suburban area. 

Moses Ong (2010-11 cohort) cited Eagle Bluff as the “launch of his natural resources career.” He now works for the Minnesota DNR as a supervisor at the Spire Valley Fish Hatchery. 

No get together would be complete without a campfire where stories are shared and memories recalled. (Photo by Clare Mazack)

Regardless of what career people are now pursuing, it is clear that Eagle Bluff gave many staff the opportunity to develop life-long skills in environmental education. It is also clear that these individuals helped shape the organization into what it is today.

Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center is located three miles north of Lanesboro. In addition to its outdoor education programs, it also maintains trails that are open to the public for hiking, mountain biking and skiing, hosts public events for adults and families, runs an extensive summer camp program, and can be reserved for private events as well.