The National Conservation Legacy Center

The National Conservation Legacy Center (NCLC) is the new home of the National Museum of Forest Service History. This flagship project features 11 interactive media exhibits that introduce visitors to the history of the U.S. Forest Service, the evolution of conservation, and the stewardship of America’s public lands.

The visitor experience begins with a large object theater film featuring a Theodore Roosevelt interpreter, introducing the origins of conservation and Gifford Pinchot’s guiding philosophy for the U.S. Forest Service. Throughout the museum, guests explore an interactive projected timeline of Forest Service history using camera-tracked physical pucks, trigger educational content across a 55-by-18-foot projection wall of National Forest and Grassland imagery, and hear firsthand stories from rangers, specialists, and partners through a series of video kiosks. 

Additional experiences include a digital Honor Roll archive featuring more than 400 Forest Service inductees, exhibits highlighting the sustainable design and construction of the Center itself, linear media installations celebrating recreation on public lands, and a concluding theater presentation that encourages visitors to continue asking how we can serve “the greatest good, for the greatest number, in the long run”, based on Pinchot’s guiding principle.