Building Bridges at the Nature Center

Next time you visit the MK Nature Center at Fish and Game headquarters in Boise you may be walking on old milk jugs that you threw into your recycle bin. Over $8000 worth of an innovative material called "ChoiceDek" has been donated to the MK Nature Center to rebuild splintering bridges. Weyerhaeuser, in cooperation with Advanced Environmental Recycling Technology (AERT), has given the Idaho Department of Fish & Game enough of the decking product to rebuild all four of the Nature Center's bridges. The decking material looks like expensive redwood planks, but it is actually a product made from recycled plastic and wood fibers. The ChoiceDek product will give the bridges a longer lifespan and needs virtually no maintenance. In addition, it is a good example of helping the earth by using recycled material. "Once again, the business community in Boise steps up to the plate. Weyerhaueser was so generous. We were researching material and when they heard about the project, they offered to work with AERT to donate the ChoiceDek. It was pretty amazing," says Terry Thompson, Nature Center Supervisor. The renovation has been completed in time for two major events scheduled for the Nature Center in September. Salmon and Steelhead Days, an educational workshop for Southwest Idaho area schoolchildren, is scheduled for September 6-8. In honor of the Nature Center's 10th Anniversary, a special weekend event is planned for September 29-October 1.