This thesis researches and examines the impact that an environmental education center would have on the public in a wilderness setting. The public lacks an educational facility that can model a more sustainable way of life by offering environmental guidance and a research station focused on how to better coexist with nature. Right now, the Black Hills are beginning to show evidence of the inability to sustain its inhabitants, and the entire forest ecosystem needs to be turned around and set on a positive future. A community based research and education center near Custer, SD should be implemented so the public has a place to go where they can learn how to coexist with their environment. This project will specifically focus on how architecture can use sustainable design and materials so that we can abide in nature without disrupting it's natural cycles. Successful completion of this project will provide a model of how it's possible for architecture and nature to mutually benefit and exist together.