The History of Earth Day & River Bend Nature Center

By: Molly Olson, Naturalist/ Program Coordinator

While there were many people and events that helped to influence the environmental movement, Earth Day is said to be one of the major events that led to the modern day environmental movement. At this time, industry was allowed to dump pollutants in waterways and into the air without any consideration for how they affected the environment or the health of people. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire 13 times. DDT, a highly toxic insecticide, was used on crops. Rachel Carson noticed the effects this had on all wildlife. She wrote A Silent Spring in 1962, which raised the alarm on chemical use and the effects on the environment. These are just a few of the events that sparked the movement for the first Earth Day.

U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, a conservation-minded Republican from Wisconsin, realized a radical change needed to be made to keep pollution from causing irreversible damage to the environment. He enlisted the help of Senator Pete McClosky and student Dennis Hayes to hold the first Earth Day. Hayes, a Harvard student, was the national coordinator of Earth Day, mobilizing approximately 20 million people on April 22, 1970. This date was chosen because it fell in between spring break and final exams for college students, who made up a large portion of the participants. Some environmental policies that can be attributed to the first Earth Day include: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Earth Day became a global celebration in 1990, with over 200 million people from 141 countries participating. Today it remains the largest global holiday.

River Bend’s history is not far behind, as it is celebrating 43 years in 2020. River Bend Nature Center started as an idea of Orwin Rustad, a field biologist at Shattuck/St. Mary’s in 1974. Governor Perpich signed a bill authorizing 536 acres to be leased to the City of Faribault for a nature interpretive center in 1977. And finally on July 25, 1978, Faribault Area Nature Interpretive Center, Inc. was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization. A few weeks later, the first trails were staked by Orwin Rustad, Steve Griesert, and Bob Yochum. The name changed a year later to River Bend Nature Center, the official logo was approved, and construction started on a building and trails. River Bend held its first Earth Day celebration in 1990, and started planning for a new interpretive building. The new building was officially dedicated in 1992 and since then River Bend has developed and expanded environmental education programming. Today programming includes school field trips, Shattuck St. Mary’s modules, public programs for all ages, summer camps, homeschool programs, and partnerships with Rice County, Faribault ECFE, and Faribault Community School, just to name a few. While River Bend has celebrated Earth Day differently throughout the years, staff hopes to continue to advocate for the natural world and educate the public about the environment.