Opening July 2026, the National Conservation Legacy Center is a one-of-a-kind national museum and a brand-new addition to Missoula. As the flagship facility of the National Museum of Forest Service History, the center presents interactive, immersive exhibits that explore the story of conservation in the United States and the public lands that define it.

Inside the Main Exhibit Hall, visitors move through a “forest of stories” organized around themes like forests and mountains, watersheds and habitats, prairies and rangelands, fire and wilderness. The building itself is part of the experience. Designed as an “Ode to Wood,” the striking mass-timber structure is an exhibit in its own right. Tree-like columns honor Western Montana’s forests, while the peaked roof echoes the surrounding mountains.

Beyond the exhibits, the center houses a state-of-the-art repository preserving more than 55,000 Forest Service artifacts, along with a research library. Located on a 31-acre campus near the Missoula Airport, the Legacy Center also features outdoor exhibits, interpretive trails and historic structures, creating a destination that connects conservation history with the landscape itself.