BY MIKAILA WILKERSON, Staff Reporter

Some new and exciting additions are going to be coming to the Museum of Culture and Environment, which is located in Dean Hall.

Mark Auslander, Director of the Museum, said that the first exhibition to be added will be Wolves in Washington State, which will replace the exhibits that are there now.

“[It] is a very controversial issue, the re-introduction of wolves, but very fascinating. So as a museum of culture and environment it’s an important thing,” Auslander said.

The museum is aware that an exhibit on the reintroduction of wolves could be a contentious subject, especially in this area.

“There are people who just love wolves and, of course, there are other people, such as ranchers, who don’t have very friendly feelings about wolves,” Auslander said.

The grand opening of the exhibition will be on Jan. 30th. At 6 p.m., there will be a celebration in honor of the new exhibit on the reintroduction of wolves.

‘The idea is to invite everybody in, and then in February, we’re going to have a really interesting discussion. We’re inviting people from all over the community to share their thoughts about wolves,” Auslander said.

Kathleen Barlow, the Chair of the Museum Advisory Council, is the head of the committee to decide museum programming. The committee is made up of people both on campus and in the community.

“I would say that when we suggested the idea of the wolves exhibit to the Advisory Council, they were excited about it and enthusiastic to have that exhibition take place, [and to] have the conversations happen if they can,” Barlow said.

According to Auslander, the Snoqualmie Pass exhibition will be up in April. This exhibition will be showing the changes that will be happening to I-90 as there will be a bridge build so that animals, especially cougars, can cross over the highway safely.

Auslander said the Washington State Department of Transportation is a major partner in this project.

“We’re going to call the exhibition ‘How Did the Cougar Cross the Road?’, and it’s going to be about restoring wildlife connections across Snoqualmie Pass,” Auslander said.

Central students working with the museum are designing a miniature bridge that children will be able to cross while wearing animal costumes.

On April 19, the museum will be celebrating Earth Day by hosting the second annual Salmon Run, a 5k/10k race around campus, which will begin at the front of Dean Hall.

Bethany Oliver, the Museum’s Public Programs Manager, said that the museum will be teaming up with the Recreation Center to lay out the race’s track around campus.

“We’re going to have as many eco-friendly activities or things that people can do for conservation and preservation,” Oliver said.