Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre at Oak Hammock Marsh

The Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre is a joint project of Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Province of Manitoba. The Centre is located on the edge of the Oak Hammock Marsh Wildlife Management Area and is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to “Connect People with Wetlands.”

Oak Hammock Marsh is one of North America’s birding hotspots and a great destination for people of all ages. This 36km2 Wildlife Management Area features a restored prairie marsh, aspen-oak bluff, waterfowl lure crops, artesian springs, some of Manitoba’s last remaining patches of tall-grass prairie and 30 kilometers of trails for you to explore.

This wetland is home to 25 species of mammals, 300 species of birds, numerous amphibians, reptiles, fish, and countless invertebrates. During migration season, the number of waterfowl using the marsh can exceed 100,000 daily! This beautiful location offers the perfect setting for the award-winning Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre’s many engaging and educational programs. Open year-round, the Wetland Discovery Centre welcomes school groups and tourists for a variety of guided programs. The Wetland Discovery Centre also features a theatre, a scenic café, a gift shop, meeting rooms, rooftop observation deck, and interactive exhibits.

The indoor and outdoor exhibits at the Discovery Centre have been updated periodically over the past 27 years as funding has become available but were currently in need of a comprehensive renewal in order to a deliver a truly world-class visitor experience. Ducks Unlimited Canada hired Lord Cultural Resources with WeatherstonBruer Associates to develop an Interpretive Renewal Plan for new, exciting, and educational visitor experiences that will celebrate the natural wonder and beauty of Oak Hammock Marsh and all wetlands, to increase visitation and understanding of their value. Visitors will connect to these stories through accessible and unique digital, multimedia, and hands-on discovery opportunities. Our team conducted initial meetings, visioning workshop discussions, and background materials provided by OHMIC staff in order to develop recommendations for a renewed visitor experience. As part of this first phase we also created a Fundraising Brochure that was used to secure funding for the execution of the project. Following approval of the Interpretive Renewal Plan, the team was hired again to work with DUC to do detailed content development and design. All planning, design, and fabrication of the exhibits has now been completed and awaits an imminent opening to the public.

Incorporating Indigenous perspectives into the experience was a key goal of this project. The Lord and DUC teams collaborated with Indigenous knowledge holders to bring in local Indigenous perspectives on the environment and conservation, including Indigenous languages, storytelling, and personal stories. The exhibition features numerous interactive exhibit elements ranging from touchscreens, digital scales, tunnels to crawl through, and motion activated screens. The entrance lobby features a revitalized highly detailed diorama of wetland flora and fauna. This has been enhanced with a passive interactive effect which cycles slowly through the sounds and lighting of the wetland as experienced over the course of dawn to dusk, but compressed to a five minute experience. This programmed experience helps to place visitors on the site and to imagine the daily cycles of the marsh that they may not otherwise be able to appreciate.

Elsewhere in the gallery a more active interactive experience is provided by means of a small (flat bottomed) Jon boat that visitors can step into and sit. By starting the engine they activate both an adjacent wall-sized projection showing the marsh passing by at speed, as well as a hidden fan blowing a stream of air in their faces. Speeds are controlled by means of the outboard engine itself or alternatively with a remotely mounted ADA compliant mechanism.

Finally a clever but modest mechanical interactive has been developed to demonstrate the effects of flooding in the wetlands. By turning a large metal wheel, such as one might control a floodgate, visitors can raise or lower a hidden graphic panel, which in turn creates a dry or flooded presentation on an embedded map in the wall. This direct hands-on interactive is a deliberate counterpoint to the more technical AV solutions employed elsewhere and is a simple yet satisfying tactile experience.

Kubik Maltbie produced and installed the exhibits, which opened to the public on May 24, 2025. The new exhibits will be key tools in Ducks Unlimited Canada’s mission to educate people on the need for clean water and healthy wetlands for all waterfowl, wildlife and people.