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Idaho Museum of Natural History requests operating funds to sustain new mobile museum program
Summary
The Idaho Museum of Natural History told the committee it received a three‑year $180,000 foundation grant to buy a van and fund part‑time staffing for a mobile museum; museum directors asked for partial general‑fund support to sustain operations after the grant ends.
Kevin Campbell presented the Idaho Museum of Natural History’s budget and said the museum holds more than 1.5 million artifacts and had 8.2 authorized FTP with two vacancies that were subsequently filled.
Museum Director Leif Tapanila said the museum secured a $180,000, three‑year grant from the David B. Jones Foundation to purchase a van (the first year) and to fund two years of part‑time educator salary to run a mobile museum aimed at rural schools and libraries. Tapanila said the mobile museum is expected to travel about 6,000 miles annually once operating at scale and that the grant’s operational funding is time‑limited.
Tapanila asked for partial general‑fund operating support ($56,100 listed in the agency packet) to sustain the program after the foundation grant ends, to cover material and travel costs and to allow the museum to continue visiting every county on a repeating schedule. He said the museum already conducts outreach travel at a smaller scale but that the mobile program would formalize and expand that work and allow the museum to maintain operations on campus while a dedicated staff person travels.
Committee members asked about metrics and outcomes. Senator Goode suggested the museum should measure educational outcomes beyond simple visitor counts. Tapanila said attendance and student numbers are easy to tally, but the museum would also collect qualitative evidence about learning and outreach benefits and that loaning specimens and conducting research are other measurable outputs.
No votes were taken. The museum asked the committee to consider sustainability funding after the three‑year grant period, emphasizing its role in statewide education outreach and collections stewardship.
