$400k for the Forest Service History Museum

The National Museum of Forest Service History (Museum), a 501 (C)(3) headquartered in Missoula, MT, is pleased to announce they have received a grant in the amount of $400,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The NEH today announced $28.1 million in grants for 204 humanities projects across the country. Sixteen new NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants were awarded. These grants leverage federal funding to stimulate private investment in capital improvement projects at historical and cultural institutions across the country. The National Museum of Forest Service History is among the sixteen Challenge Grant recipients

The project, entitled The Greatest Good: Our Country’s Conservation Legacy, will be featured as the premier interactive exhibit in the new National Conservation Legacy Center (Center) which will be built on the Museum’s 31-acre campus located one mile west of the Missoula Airport on Highway 10 West.

The Greatest Good: Our Country’s Conservation Legacy will trace the evolution of our country’s desire to implement a radical new idea, public lands. Born from the Progressive Era of President Theodore Roosevelt and given life through early-day visionaries, public lands were to be owned and utilized by the American public.

Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service that was created in 1905, declared that “all land is to be devoted to its most productive use for the permanent good of the whole people, and not for the temporary benefit of individuals or companies.” Pinchot’s philosophy has guided the vision for the U.S. Forest Service and challenged its leaders, collaborators, and detractors for more than one hundred years. If a conflict arose over the intended use or benefit of our natural resources, Pinchot’s declared that “the question shall always be answered from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run.”

The grant funding, which requires a $3:$1 match, will be used for physical exhibit components including lighting, artifact cases, video monitors and exhibition equipment. This exhibit will be a core feature of the Center, the flagship facility of the Museum.

Questions may be directed to Lisa Tate, Museum Executive Director 406-541-6374 (office) or 208-484-6667 (cell).

The Museum was founded in 1988. Our mission is to tell the rich history and story of American’s Conservation Legacy.