There’s a place you can visit locally — for free — and see bald eagles, bears, coyotes, snakes, bats, and even a fisher, which is a member of the weasel family that generally lives in dense forests and is very elusive.

That place is the Carbon County Environmental Education Center along East White Bear Drive in Summit Hill.

Although the eagles, hawks, snakes and bats are live, the bears, coyotes, fishers and many other wild animals are cured by a taxidermist, which enables all visitors — young and old — to actually touch them.

On Saturday, the environmental center, an amazing facility devoted to preserving nature, will be celebrating its 40th anniversary from 10 a.m. until after 3 p.m. A highlight will be welcome remarks by Susan Gallagher, director of the center, at 1 p.m. with cupcakes by the White Bear Bakery served.

Visitors will find more than just animals.

There will be an edible plant walk, fall foliage hike and, beginning at 2 p.m., a “behind the scenes tour” where “people can come and see places usually off limits,” Gallagher said. At 3 p.m., there will be a raptor feed.

The Environmental Center is, as the name implies, dedicated to the natural environment. The main structure is a converted 1920s dairy barn that was extensively remodeled in 1992. The Center consists of 70 acres of educational facilities, a pavilion, trails, animal cages, woods and fields.

The CCEEC was created following the construction of Mauch Chunk Lake and Mauch Chunk Lake Park. In the early 1980s, several individuals including the late Agnes McCartney, who was head of the Carbon County Tourism Promotion Agency; Dennis DeMara, who was the superintendent of Mauch Chunk Lake Park at the time, and the late Ben Brodsky, who was a member of the Carbon County Conservation District, were among the proponents.

Brodsky’s wife, Sylvia, who is 101 years old, remains supportive of the Center. Gallagher said Sylvia, even in recent years, when on fishing expeditions and returned with various mounted species, including salmon and several types of trout. The fish are displayed on wall plaques at the Center.

The first director of the Environmental Center was Judy Wink, who went on to become Executive Director Emeritus of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center in Maryland.

Gallagher was hired as director of the Carbon County Environmental Center in 1988. Prior to this, Gallagher was a volunteer at the center and became an intern.

Shortly after graduating from East Stroudsburg University, Gallagher got her present position, which she considers a dream job.

Community support

“I like to see people of all different ages, all different interests, drawn to this place,” she said. “That makes me think we’re doing something right.”

She is thrilled with all the support shown to the center.

Boys Scout Troop 555 constructed a pen for songbirds several years ago. Individuals display their artwork and photography here. A taxidermist donated his skills for the animals.

“People donated talents to build things, maintain things, and repair them,” she said. “It’s very humbling to look back and see that so many people care about what we do.”

She pointed out that the fur on the bear and coyote is a bit mussed. She said that’s because children and visitors in general are encouraged to touch them. “So often children are told ‘don’t touch,’” she said. “We want them to touch things, to experience.”

All the bears and coyotes that are stuffed were obtained as a result of being struck by cars and brought to the center. Numerous large raptors are in cages at the center where they are housed after being found injured.

Orphaned creatures

The bats are utilized for education. Gallagher assured they are safe and free of rabies. They are Egyptian fruit bats and have been in captivity all their lives. They came from a zoo in New Mexico, becoming homeless when the zoo closed.

The Environmental Center is also a rehabilitation center for wild animals, although not for deer and bear because of strict guidelines by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“We’re the only licensed rehabilitation center in Carbon County,” Gallagher said. “We see a little less than 1,000 animals a year. We consider it just as much a service to the public as to the animals.”

She said the center had seen and released its first orphaned fisher.

In the past year, they’ve seen a Northern Long-Eared Bat, which is considered an endangered species.

“About 20 percent of what we take in are cottontails; orphaned rabbits,” she said. We also see a lot of squirrels and birds, especially robins.”

She added, “Every phone call we get is an opportunity to interest and educate individuals.”

This past March, Gallagher had a unique experience. She and her husband Jack were taking a leisurely Sunday walk in Lehigh Gorge State Park and spotted an injured bald eagle on a bank beside the Lehigh River. Gallagher had no phone, no capture equipment and no container to place the bird. Thanks to assistance from a park ranger, they were able to transport the eagle to the Education Center where it received veterinary care.

The bald eagle living in a large cage at the center arrived as an injured bird in 2001. It was found on the Broad Mountain by a police officer. At the time, bald eagles were rarely seen in Carbon County. Today, their spotting is more common.

The Environmental Center has three fulltime employees and three part-time staff. Fulltime workers besides Gallagher are naturalists Jeannie Carl and Franklin Klock.

Gallagher said, “This is not the kind of job where the day ends at 4:30. It seeps into your free time. You work evenings, weekends.”

“But I enjoy it,” she said, “especially when I see the enjoyment it brings.”

She told of a group of third graders who visited and got to play in the dirt, experience the fur of the animals and look into the creek for crayfish. “That’s important,” she said. “That’s what we’re all about.”