It’s summertime and the Glacier Institute is very busy. The non-profit has been offering interpretative hikes and courses in Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest since 1983.

Last week it broke ground on a welcome center, a new addition to its Columbia Heights campus.

The center will be a gathering place for people taking its nature center and other programs.

Eventually, it will also host North Soul Coffee Roasting, executive director Anthony Nelson said.

North Soul has already created a “Glacier Institute Blend” which helps benefit the institute. With its new expansive property in the Heights, the 141-acre campus was purchased last year and features a spring creek, unimpeded river bottoms habitat and is a natural extension of the Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area.

Nelson noted he once viewed 96 deer, six elk and 32 turkeys in one setting on the property.

It hosts youth nature exploration day camps all summer long. The institute also host summer youth camps at its Big Creek campus up the North Fork and adult field courses (many of which offer educational credits) out of its campus in Glacier National Park in Apgar.

The Columbia Heights location also recently added 18 units for summer staffing and all told, the institute in summer has 56 employees.

It’s all accomplished through donors, modest fees for camps and tours and community support.

The Lumberjack Ball earlier this month raised $170,000 for the institute, which is $50,000 over its goal for the event, Nelson said.