Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is a private, nonprofit nature preserve and environmental education facility established in 1981 under an endowment from the Thomas and Edna Carpenter Foundation. It expanded to Wisconsin in the late 1980s, when the Al and Laurie Hein Trust donated 98 acres south of Hudson to CNC. We actively preserve and restore habitat on both properties, helping to conserve environments many native animals need to thrive. CNC is now comprised of 725 acres in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with 10 miles of self-guided and 3 miles of wheelchair-accessible trails. Our visitor center in Minnesota offers hands-on educational exhibits, live animal displays, and raptor mews featuring our bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, great-horned owl, and peregrine falcon. Our interpretive center serves as a classroom for CNC’s many programs. Both the trails and the buildings are open year-round, seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. free of charge. Educational programs are offered on weekends or evenings to the general public. Groups can make a reservation for a naturalist-led environmental education program by calling CNC’s office at 651-437-4359. Most programs require a small fee and all require reservations.