Raven's History

Located 35 miles south of Libby off of Highway 2, Raven Ranger Station served the U.S. Forest Service from the early days of the formation of that agency (1906) until the late 1960’s. The site’s early use preceded the construction of U.S. Highway 2 and met the need for a centrally located horse and mule driven supply station for the southern end of the 2.5 million acre Kootenai National Forest. It also served the community as a communication link between the outside world and the growing population of the isolated 4000 square mile wilderness of northwestern Montana. Between 1934 and 1942, eight historic buildings at Raven were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The log buildings include an office, garage/shop, bunkhouse, cookhouse, fire cache, gas shed, and living quarters/garage. The ranger station remained the focal point of the rural community by serving as the local mail drop, providing the first telephone connections, and functioning as a central meeting place throughout the 1960’s. In the early 1970’s, the government issued a mandate requiring major, expensive renovation within Raven Ranger Station. This, along with other factors lead up to the abandonment of the site. The area was burned over during the 13,000 acre Houghton Creek Fire of 1984; but miraculously, Raven’s buildings and 40 acres of large ponderosa pine were left untouched. In 1990, the site was determined eligible under criterion A & C. An architectural historian conducted an analysis of all Region 1’s historic administrative buildings in 1995 and gave Raven Ranger Station the highest ranking.

In 1997, Communities for a Great Northwest (CGNW) entered into a working agreement with the USFS in preserving the buildings and forested area of Historic Raven. CGNW is a 501c(3) education and information organization formed in 1988. In 2001, CGNW signed a ten-year partnership agreement with the Forest Service that enables necessary private investment to turn the site into a Natural Resource Learning Center.

The site currently offers a tourist/public information center, self guided interpretive trails for day hikes (including one handicapped accessible trail), and camping sites for daytime use. Schools, civic groups, and the media also use Raven’s classrooms and dormitories for ground based seminars on natural resource cultures and management.

The objective of the project is to enhance public awareness of sustainable relationships between humans, wildlife, and the environment.