Sheep Industry News April 2024

Forest Service Museum Seeks Support

T he National Conservation Legacy Center will open in 2024 or 2025 as a world class destination. The center will be the flagship of the National Museum of Forest Service History – a 501 C(3) nonprofit organization indepen dent of the U.S. Forest Service – and the museum is looking for financial support of its capital campaign to build the new center. The museum was started in 1988 to preserve and share America’s conservation legacy. The museum works with teachers across the country to bring conservation history into classrooms, host virtual and traveling exhibits, and maintain a 31-acre campus in Missoula, Mont. The only museum of its kind, the National Conservation Legacy Center expects 80,000 to 100,000 visitors annually, and the striking mass timber design will attract widespread media attention. A world-renowned museum exhibition design firm – Art Processors – is working with the museum to design and bring to life a unique participatory, immersive experience for visitors. After two years of research and design, the museum is finally able to share with its partners the opportunity to be a part of this extraordinary new facility. Your support enables the museum to share its extensive Conservation History col lection with a national audience, host blockbuster exhibitions, create educational programs for students and families and extend its community reach. Exhibits will feature state of the art participatory and im mersion experiences with educational activities and events to inspire visitors to engage and understand the conserva tion of America’s natural resources – reflecting upon Gifford Pinchot’s guiding principle, “Provide the greatest good for the greatest amount of people in the long run.” Participatory museums work with constituents and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, relevant and es sential places. The goal of participatory exhibitory is both to

meet visitors’ expectations for active engagement and to do so in a way that furthers the mission and core values of the museum. Immersion exhibits create a multi-sensory experience, which pulls visitors out of the passive, one-dimensional mu seum viewing ritual and transports them to a different time, place or situation where they become active participants in what they encounter.

Since 1905, the U.S. Forest Service has been making history as America’s first conservation agency. However, during the course of its 100-plus-year history, there has never been one central location where the people can learn and enjoy this history. There is no central repository where artifacts could be preserved, researched and displayed. There has not been one central exhibition hall where the stories and lessons could be shared with the public, where the leaders, partners and people whose stories are our history could be recognized and shared. Conservation of the forests and grasslands of the United States forms an unparalleled heritage for the American people and the world. It’s a story about the dedicated people who created much more than a government agency, they fostered new ways of thinking about our country’s resources and the stewardship of public lands. It’s time to preserve and share this story of national accomplishment- America’s Conserva tion Legacy. The National Conservation Legacy Center will provide a world-class, one-of-a-kind facility for all to learn and enjoy this rich and uniquely American conservation history. The center will continually look for ways to engage with visitors and partners so that everyone can learn from the past and therefore foster a better understanding of the conservation challenges of today and future generations. Visit ForestServiceMuseum.org to learn more.

24 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org