National Conservation Legacy Center Grand Opening
Jul 17th, 2026
At 10 a.m.

Where:
National Conservation Legacy Center
6305 U.S. Highway 10 W. Missoula, MT

Description:
A one-of-a-kind, national museum is coming to Missoula, the National Conservation Legacy Center. The flagship facility of the nonprofit National Museum of Forest Service History, the Center will host exciting, interactive exhibits on our country's conservation history. Tailored for multi-generational families and conservation enthusiasts alike, the exhibits in the Main Exhibit Hall will lead a visitor through "a forest of stories," on our country's rich public lands history, with themes such as Forests and Mountains, Watersheds and Habitats, Prairies and Rangelands, Fire, Wilderness and more.

Significantly, the building will be an attraction and exhibit in and of itself. A stunning mass timber design comprised of more than 800,000bf of wood, it truly is an "Ode to Wood," featuring cross laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber, and other innovative wood products, all donated by 14 timber company partners from across Montana and the Pacific Northwest. Thirteen very unique "tree-like columns" that support both the interior lobby and exterior Colonnade, pay homage to the forests in western Montana, while the angle-peaked roof reflects the mountains surrounding our region. A kiosk in the Center lobby will invite visitors to learn about the building's mass timber construction, architecture and design, wood products partners, and sustainability of mass timber, encouraging them to "look up" at some of the building's unique mass timber features, and literally feel the rich wood textures surrounding them.

There is no other museum like this in the country.

In addition and as a nonprofit, the Museum has taken on the responsibility of caring for tens of thousands of archival materials (55,000 to be exact), as the USDA Forest Service does not have a mandate to do so, nor a Repository to house them. The Center includes a full Repository with state-of-the-art equipment to house and preserve them. Some of these artifacts will be utilized in the Main Exhibit Hall, to reinforce the dozens of stories told. In addition, a research library is part of the Center, where students, educators, researchers and others visitors can utilize the Collection to learn more about conservation history.

Last, the Center and Repository is conveniently located on a 31-acre campus a mile west of the Missoula Airport, and the Center's peaked roof lines visible from I-90. Our beautiful campus - with a series of interpretive trails, Fire Lookout, historic Ranger's cabin, P2V Aircraft (similar to the one in front of the Missoula Airport) gives the Museum a very unique opportunity for its visitors to interactive with conservation history via outdoor exhibits, as well as the indoor exhibits in the Center. A third-party study estimates that between 60,000-80,000 visitors annually will experience the Center and its exhibits, as a national destination attraction.

We broke ground on the Center in the fall of 2024, and because mass timber construction is a quicker process, our General Contractor, Dick Anderson Construction, has given us March 17, 2026 as their finish date. After that we will begin to install the exhibits, and prepare for a Grand Opening Event on July 17, 2026.

Event details include keynote speakers, with the Governor's office, national legislators, architects, exhibit designers and Missoula county and city officials invited; a large, tented lunch free for all attendees; live music; a Ribbon Cutting to formally open the Center to visitors; personal tours; and special guests.