Our Mission
The High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) believes in exploring the connections between sustainable living and ecological processes and that understanding the interactions between the natural and built environments inspires stewardship, and fosters personal and community well being.

Our programs, exhibits, and resource library serve to:

• Reveal the connections between natural, social, cultural, economic and political systems.

• Relate personal behavior to environmental, social, cultural, and economic consequences.

• Instill a sense of personal empowerment in shaping the future.

• Promote stewardship and personal commitment to problem solving regarding issues of sustainability.

A Brief History on the Brief History of the High Plains Environmental Center

The evolution of the High Plains Environmental Center is rather unique among nonprofits, since the impetus for its creation came from a developer (yes, an unusual developer).

Tom Hoyt, President of McStain Enterprises, championed the idea for the HPEC.  Fostering the creation of a nonprofit education center within a new neighborhood in Loveland was another way to further his company’s mission to “Build a Better World”. It also established an appropriate entity to steward and manage the 275 acres of lakes and wetlands long into the future, maintaining a focus on conservation and education.  Chad and Troy McWhinney, master developers of Centerra, also embraced the idea.  Thus, two visionary companies partnered to create a mixed-use livable community with the High Plains Environmental Center at its core. The Loveland City Council was instrumental ensuring the long-term success of this center, having approved the development agreements stipulating that some building permit revenues from the development would help fund the nonprofit.

maintaining the assets and lands and managing the endowment. Both the HPEC and the HPF were officially incorporated in March 2001, and we secured our  501 (c)(3) status from the IRS in  August 2002. A Boards of Trustees govern each entity.

The HPEC is a living laboratory created to explore the connections between sustainable living and ecological processes to promote understanding of the interactions between the natural and built environments, to inspire stewardship, and to foster personal and community well being.  We aim to achieve these goals through our exhibits and interpretive nature trails, community outreach and educational programs, a resource library open to the public, and workshops and consultation to various groups on topics related to our mission