Jacket cover of the new CD that provides visitors with a self-guided tour of  Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. - USFWS photo by Scott Ford

As part of a grant funded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is in the final stages of developing an exciting new tool which will enhance public enjoyment and understanding of the refuge. Refuge staff, in partnership with the Prairie Education Group (PEG) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have been working steadily to develop a self-guided auto tour of the refuge.

This new program – entitled Prairie Passage - will be approximately 50 minutes long, and will be available in Compact Disk format. The 14 track disk correlates with 13 stops along the current route of Wildlife Drive. The 4.5 mile tour bisects the 750 acre bison and elk enclosure, which is traditionally the highest visited area of the refuge. The 14^th and final track of the CD features a three minute vignette of former Iowa Congressman Neal Smith reminiscing about growing up in Iowa, his vision for a prairie refuge, and how vital environmental education is to the future of natural areas.

The inside cover of the CD jacket is filled with additional safety information, web site references, and interesting “Did You Know…” facts. A map of the tour route, along with track times and driving distances between stopping points highlights the outside part of the CD jacket.

Future editions of Prairie Passage are already in the planning stages. Updated versions of the self-guided tour will eventually include many value added take-home features including: photos, web links to additional information and partners, and possibly a virtual tour of other areas of the refuge. The Friends of the Prairie Learning Center helped provide matching money to fund the project, and they plan to offer a limited number of these CD/DVD programs for sale in the Prairie Point Bookstore.

A supply of loaner CD’s will always be available at the Prairie Learning Center for patrons wishing to take the tour and then return the disk when they are finished. The first version of the self-guided tour will be available to the public in January 2006.