MINNESOTA—After an inspirational 40-plus-year career educating urban residents and young children about conservation issues, one USDA Forest Service employee’s work was memorialized with a canoe embossed with her name.

Celebrating her four-decade-long professional journey, New York native Teri Heyer’s local colleagues and friends joined her in at a retirement party in her honor Sept. 7 at Como Park in St. Paul. It was a celebration of “Teri’s passion for community, connection and the great outdoors,” wrote one attendee.

Also represented at the gathering was Heyer’s longtime conservation education partner Wilderness Inquiry, a St. Paul-based nonprofit with the goal of committing to making the outdoors accessible to all.

Wilderness Inquiry recognized Heyer during the event with a canoe embossed with her name in honor of the excellent partner she has been to the program and youth of Minneapolis/St. Paul and elsewhere.

Canoemobile is a Wilderness Inquiry program Teri Heyer coordinated with for many years. In the program, six very large canoes holding up to 10 people are taken around to urban areas. About 100-200 youth per day experience canoeing at their local waterways and learn more about natural resources that sustain them through the program.

Wilderness Inquiry Development Director Willy Tully said, “Teri has been an incredible partner over the past 10 years, during which time over 300,000 kids have paddled with us across the country. She was a big part of bringing those experiences to life.”

The most recent Canoemobile event was held in Milwaukee Aug. 15. Participating in the newsworthy public happening was Gina Owens, regional forester for the Eastern Region, who also paddled a canoe.

Owens said of the Canoemobile program’s benefits, “We want kids to care about nature. And that means they’ve got to come out and have positive safe experiences. Not only does the Canoemobile help kids see themselves safely enjoying the outdoors, it also opens their eyes to other possibilities—including possible careers in the outdoors.”

Heyer started out her Forest Service career at the field office in Durham, New Hampshire, as a student trainee in the Student Career Experience Program. There, she worked for the former Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry, now part of the Eastern Region. Her first permanent job was as a soil scientist student trainee. After getting her Master of Science degree in natural resources from the University of New Hampshire, Heyer moved out in 1984 to the field office in St. Paul. She married Jon Heyer in 1985 and had two children.

As a soil scientist in St. Paul, she took charge of the Natural Resources Conservation Education Program for 10 years before being assigned as a national resource conservation educator coordinator for the 20 northeastern states. In that role she provided expert support to educators to develop conservation education materials and products. From 2004-2011 she held the title of the Upper Mississippi forest partnership coordinator.

She served as a program specialist managing the Minneapolis/St. Paul Urban Connections program, an outreach and education program of the Eastern Region connecting urban residents with their natural resources in 2011, staying there until recently.

In 2021, Heyer deferred her retirement so she could help her program during a crucial time of engagement of urban audiences. This was also during a time when they did not have a program manager in that role, so she was detailed into that position.

“Teri has provided much strong support and leadership in community education and conservation,” said her coworker Lisa Perez. “She has been a mentor to others and is considered a trailblazer in the field of conservation education.”

Heyer is scheduled to finish her long and notable conservation career when she retires from the Forest Service at the end of the year.