The lookout tower at the future National Museum of Forest Service History is shorter than the surrounding trees, but it still has a commanding view.

Its windows look out across the airfield where the Forest Service's smokejumpers take off. They frame two recent forest fires, several logged hillsides and the tips of two national wilderness areas. A few years ago, the same lookout tower looked across the National Mall at the Smithsonian Institution's castle.

On Tuesday morning, an observer on its deck would have seen about 80 retired Forest Service employees touring the rope outline of their future memory bank. With some dedication and $8 million, they hope to see the real thing arise on this 36-acre site west of Missoula International Airport.

"I don't know if there's a perfect place for this museum," Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told the audience. "But I do think Missoula is as close as you can get."

Tidwell was most recently the top forester in the Forest Service's Region 1, based in Missoula, then was promoted to the agency's top job in Washington, D.C. The fact that Missoula was the first national forest region in the 104-year-old agency's history was a big factor in choosing the location.

Museum board member and former Missoula district ranger Dave Stack added the area's connection to the Army's 10th Mountain Division, whose members trained in Montana and then helped start the nation's interest in downhill skiing; the aforementioned smokejumpers; and the presence of the agency's national Fire Sciences Laboratory also contribute to the location's draw.

When complete, the museum is expected to house more than 40,000 exhibits. It will cover the cultural, ecological, economic, political and social history of the Forest Service and the lands and communities it influenced.

A 46-foot-high tower will crown the building. Inside, visitors will find pillars made from 24 different species of tree, collected from across the nation. About $3.2 million has already been raised for planning and site preparation. Another

$8 million is needed to begin construction.

Once that threshold is crossed, it will take about nine months to build the museum and another 14 months to install its exhibits. Smithsonian Institution program curator James Deutsch said it might be considered as an affiliate of the national museum complex.

Several speakers at Tuesday's gathering wondered aloud why it took more than a century for an agency with such a history to have its own museum. Missoula Mayor John Engen joked that the passage of time was sort of necessary for stuff to achieve museum quality. But others observed that an agency with so much day-to-day responsibility has little time to reflect.

"The needs of the American people kept changing and the Forest Service kept changing with them," said Gray Reynolds, president of the museum. "Now it's time to take a step back and see where we've been."

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.