Conservation History

You won’t leave the National Conservation Training Center without a greater appreciation for America’s conservation heritage. Because, as the "home" of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we are striving to collect and value our agency’s historical legacy, right here in the midst of this vibrant new center of learning and research.

You’ll experience this heritage in our campus decor ... in the unique artifacts that grace the entire campus ... in the history that infuses many of our training sessions and courses. As we push the frontiers of conservation training, we continue to draw strength and experience from the work of those who came before us.

Museum

The National Conservation Training Center has dedicated itself to the interpretation and display of America's Conservation Heritage. In addition to the Conservation Museum, the facility also contains displays throughout the classrooms, lodges, and common areas. The idea is to have history integrated into every aspect of conservation training. To meet our conservation goals the National Conservation Training Center has a full-time Museum Curator trained in historical preservation and display.

Archive

Goals

• To promote the history of Fish and Wildlife Service through its former personnel who have created, guarded, and passed on to us a culture of conservation.
• To instill pride in current Fish and Wildlife Service employees by presenting and preserving the history of the organization.
• To preserve invaluable parts of American environmental history which might otherwise be lost or neglected. To recover and emphasize the Service's primary role in American conservation history.
• To create a research center for:
  • Historical research (e.g., American historians, public historians, environmental historians).
  • Scientific research (e.g., previous population records, ecological crises and responses, management techniques).
  • To demonstrate that our environmental challenges have a historical context and to use this knowledge to better understand current problems.