Old Lyme - Tucked amid hardwood forest off Route 156, a modest white house with doors and windows covered with plywood awaits its transformation into a kind of entryway into the world of Roger Tory Peterson.

"We see this as the visitor contact station, with a large open space in the center for exhibits about wildlife and the estuary," Shaun Roche, park ranger for the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Westbrook, said Tuesday. He was standing outside the house, which was built sometime in the 1920s or 1930s.

"We need to get the money to restore it," he said, "but it is in good enough shape to be saved."

The still-evolving plans for the house are one facet of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's project to incorporate the 56-acre property off Sanders Hollow Road and Route 156 into the vast Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge that extends through multiple parcels throughout the four-state Connecticut River watershed to the Canadian border. The property, acquired by the Fish & Wildlife Service last year, was the home and workspace of Peterson, famed artist, photographer and author of "A Field Guide to the Birds" and numerous other guide books intended for the average nature lover.

Peterson died in 1996, after four decades of life and work in the small white house he used as his office for secretaries and other staff, and in his home and artist's studio a short walk away. The house and studio remain in private ownership.

"He was certainly a celebrity among certain circles," Roche said. "There are many people who think he is one of the most influential conservationists, because his guide was the first field guide for normal people. This hardwood forest, because of its association with Peterson, is a special place, and we see using it as part of a network of birding areas we could create."

Over the past few months, the wildlife service has assembled a friends group of about 25 local residents who are advising on how to open the area to the public and will provide ongoing volunteer support, Roche said. They will help decide where to establish trails, wildlife viewing platforms and the kinds of exhibits and signs that would honor the life of Peterson and teach the public about the natural habitat. This Sunday, Roche will lead a walk through the property for the friends group.

"He wanted to live in this area because of all the kinds of birds that live here and set up their nests here," Roche said, standing on a spot overlooking a brackish marsh at the headwaters of the Lieutenant River, at the far east edge of the property. "He loved ospreys and swallows and the types of birds you'd see in this area."

Several friends and former employees of Peterson have joined the friends group, among them one who laid out some of the trails through the forest that he and Peterson used to hike together. Roche said he plans to meet with the man in the coming weeks to learn more about the trails. Friends, employees and colleagues of Peterson, including other nature photographers, artists and publishing executives, are being interviewed on videotape for an oral history project that will provide material for exhibits for the refuge.

In a state with no national parks, the Conte and McKinney national wildlife refuges fill the role of federally protected areas for the public, although with a different emphasis, Roche said. The main emphasis of wildlife refuges is on protecting and teaching people about wildlife habitat, while providing public access "comes a close second."

At the Peterson refuge, Roche said, the emphasis will fall in this order: protecting the habitat, celebrating Peterson's legacy, and connecting the public to both nature and Peterson. To achieve those goals, Roche foresees guided hikes, an outdoor classroom and displays of copies or loaned originals of Peterson's paintings in the former office.

"This is a place where people can come and just reflect and listen to the birds," he said. "It's not a spectacular habitat, but it is a special place because he walked it and enjoyed it for 40 years."

j.benson@theday.com