Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center


Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center is an accredited learning center located in Finland, Minnesota. It is a learning center that focuses on k-12 environmental education.

History

In 1969, Jack Pichotta created a program for students in a high school in Cloquet, Minnesota. The program replaces a week of normal classes and instead teaches about environmental topics. These environmental topics are taught by over 100 environmental specialists. Pichotta joined a group of concerned educators to discuss environmental education in Minnesota. Pichotta and his team decided to use a closed down U.S. Forest Service camp as a school to teach about the environment. The camp was named Isabella Environmental Learning center after the camp's previous name, Isabella Job Corps Camp.
In 1974 Pichotta and his team decided that the program would need a new permanent location. Between 1975 and 1985 the program moved to Finland, Minnesota and eventually evolved into Wolf Ridge.

Campus

Wolf Ridge's main campus was built in the Sawtooth Mountains on a precipice overlooking Lake Superior. The campus contains about 2000 acres of mixed conifer-hardwood forest. Wolf Ridge has 2 small lakes- Raven Lake and Wolf Lake, as well as several streams. The Baptism River also flows through the property. Hills on campus include the tallest, Mystical Mountain, which stands at ~1500 feet and Marshal Mountain, which stands at 1405 feet. The main campus consists of a Dining Hall, an Energy Center, an Education Building, and a Science Center, as well as both the East Dorm and the West Dorm.