A $6 million endowment will ensure generations to come can enjoy Oak Hammock Marsh.

The Province of Manitoba will be contributing to a fund, approximately $270,000 annually, for the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre. Oak Hammock March sees 100,000 students, tourists and environmental professionals each year, allowing them to explore the facilities near Stonewall.

The endowment, established with the Interlake Community Foundation, will bring a 20 per cent boost to the centre's operating grant from the province.

“Environmental education is critical to the future of our province and planet,” Premier Brian Pallister says. “For three decades, Oak Hammock Marsh has created a wonderful opportunity for Manitobans of all ages to learn and connect with the nature. The creation of this fund will ensure their important work will continue for decades into the future and will support climate and green education.”

Earlier this year, the province committed $1.5 million towards facility upgrades using provincial funds.

The $6 million will be used to upgrade the facility as well as support the interpretive centre's funding. 

The Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre is also being renamed. Now called the Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre, the building will be dedicated to a man who fought for the centre to be created. Harry J. Enns was a member of the legislative assembly for Lakeside from 1966 to 2003.

“From the very beginning, our dad understood the benefits of this project both for Ducks Unlimited Canada, which he admired as a first-class organization and to the thousands of Manitobans who would be able to visit the interpretive centre to experience first-hand the wonders and importance of a living wetland," Andrew Enns, son of Harry J. Enns says.

The building is also the headquarters to Ducks Unlimited Canada.

“This investment by the province will allow us to leverage the best in conservation science and education,” Karla Guyn, the CEO of Ducks Unlimited Canada says. “It provides the financial stability needed to ensure our award-winning facility can continue providing Manitobans and visitors from around the world with hands-on opportunities to learn about wetlands and the critical role they play in building a sustainable future.”

Pallister says the facility is world-class. He says the province is working to become Canada’s cleanest, greenest, most climate-resilient province. Investments like these, according to Pallister, will ensure a bright and sustainable future for Manitobans.

The province says the establishment of the endowment fund is going to increase the value of the Interlake Community Foundation’s (ICF) funds six-fold. The administrative fees generated from the fund are expected to greatly enhance ICF’s ability to support additional priority community initiatives throughout the Interlake region.