Ever heard of Ordway? Chances are, if you haven’t taken an ecology class, you probably haven’t. Most students think of Macalester as two city blocks surrounded by urban neighborhoods—and practically speaking, it is. Actually, most of Macalester’s land lies along the Mississippi River, in the form of a little-known 285-acre nature preserve of prairie, forest and wetlands. The Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area is one of Macalester’s best resources, but most of the community hasn’t had a chance to enjoy it.

Ordway was donated to Macalester with the goals of protecting native habitats and providing educational opportunities to the community. Currently, however, the area is visited only by a small number of Macalester’s ecology geeks and unwilling lab participants. Although we are part of the former group (and occasionally the latter), we believe that more students should be able to take advantage of Ordway. It is a beautiful place to visit, but even more so, Ordway is an important resource that could and should be used for the benefit of the entire college.

Geography, geology, art, anthropology and creative writing classes could all take field trips or organize projects among Ordway’s golden hills. Potential independent and summer research projects at Ordway are countless, spanning interests and disciplines. Hands-on environmental education with community groups (and the junior high school down the street) could provide a unique avenue for civic engagement. Volunteer events in restoration and maintenance could take place on a regular basis, and the Outing Club could host activities ranging from canoe safety to snowshoeing. Even faculty and staff could benefit from a retreat or department meeting among the oak savannahs.

Macalester has not capitalized on these abundant opportunities and recent administrative steps jeopardize any future efforts for involvement. The current half-time resident naturalist, half-time biology lab instructor will be replaced next year by a full-time lab instructor who will live at Ordway, but have no administrative duties. In addition, two current student employment positions will be eliminated. These staffing changes will leave Ordway with no one to organize and implement restoration projects, arrange class visits and volunteer events, obtain grant funding and generally run the station. The potential for any student involvement with Ordway will be severely compromised. Furthermore, the end of ecological management activities risks degrading the natural habitat. Since 1967 Ordway has been restored from pasture to prairie, but without continued management this work could be easily reversed.

Part of the problem may be that Ordway is currently incorporated into the biology department. Ordway’s benefits extend to the whole college community; one department should not be held responsible for its integration into a wide range of curricular and recreation activities. Managing Ordway independent of the biology department would not only ease the department’s own budgetary constraints, but also facilitate more widespread use by all campus departments. There are many possible solutions, but it is clear that more of us should be taking advantage of 285 beautiful acres along the Mississippi.

It is ironic that as Macalester moves toward increasing environmental commitment, it is letting one of its most remarkable resources fall by the wayside. As stewards of Ordway, the college should actively promote its ecological sustainability and utilize the unique opportunity that the land presents as a teaching tool for the entire community. It is tragic enough that most students have never been to Ordway—it is even more tragic that we may soon forget it completely.