The Interpretive Center is located beside Oak Hammock Marsh, the reclaimed remnant of the sprawling St. Andrews Bog that once covered 450 square kilometers. The marsh was almost completely drained and converted to agricultural use until the 1970s when the federal and provincial governments, with assistance from Ducks Unlimited, restored 36 square kilometers of marsh and grassland on the original site. Today 200,000 people, including school children, tourists, nature clubs, seniors groups, and families visit Oak Hammock Marsh and the Interpretive Center annually. The Interpretive Center has aquaria filled with beetles and fish, television monitors inside the building linked to remote cameras in the marsh and grasslands, computer terminals to record wildlife observations and explore the electronic wilderness, and an ever-changing line of feature exhibits. Workshops featuring bird and plant identification, shorebird carving, stained glass art, nature photography, and bird feeder construction also are offered.
Naturalists conduct interpretive tours of the marsh and adjacent habitats.
The Center also offers catering services, meeting rooms, and a 120-seat theater to host business and scientific symposia. Quill Lakes Ducks Unlimited began its first project on the Quill Lakes in 1948. Since that time we have spent 2.3 million Swiss francs on 22 projects in and around the site which has resulted in the enhancement of 22,000 hectares of wetland and upland habitat. This work has involved the securement and seeding of native grasslands, establishment of rotational grazing systems, creation of nesting islands for waterfowl, pelicans, and cormorants, and the impoundment of freshwater creeks to provide reliable surface water for breeding waterfowl and shorebirds. Sheet water also has been released onto the gravel shores to provide water for nesting piping plovers.