By: Bob Gunter
The beautiful University of Idaho Clark Fork
Field Campus offers a magnificent setting for
academic courses and workshops, conferences and
retreats, school field trips and overnights.
The bear was just inches from me and I could
almost feel its hot breath. I thought I
perceived a slight movement in my direction but
I knew that was not possible because the bear
was dead. I was standing in the Natural History
Museum located on the campus of the Clark Fork
Field Campus in Clark Fork, Idaho. There one can
see most of the animals and fowl that are
indigenous to this area.
Ken Kinucan, manager of the field campus,
created the museum with help from his wife Edie.
Ken did all the extraordinary taxidermy work
presented in the museum. He also built all of
the display cases and wrote the interpretative
script for each animal. He has so posed the
animals that one has the feeling of life and
movement. His ability to make each animal look
life like comes from his life long study of
animals in their natural habitat. This talented
man's goal is to provide an educational
experience for all that visit the museum. He is
dedicated to providing an opportunity for
children to learn natural history and ecology.
The campus managed by Ken and Edie has a
colorful history. In 1909, the Forest Service
set aside 19 plus acres of land to establish
what was then called the Antelope Ranger Station
in the Kaniksu National Forest. The name of the
station was later changed to Clark Fork.
In 1937 the Civilian Conservation Corps built an
office building on the northeast side of
Mosquito creek and today that building is used
as the field campus office, museum and some
sleeping rooms. A barn that once belonged to the
Ranger Station was converted into a small
bunkhouse with two large rooms, toilets and
showers. Eight beds are in each room. The old
warehouse has been converted to a classroom that
will accommodate up to 50 people. The manager's
house and another identical residence, Tamarack,
were constructed in 1954. The field campus also
has a large two-story bunkhouse with bedrooms on
the upper floor and a modern commercial kitchen
and dining room on the lower floor.
The Forest Service abandoned the station in 1973
and it was used as a "Teen Town" for several
years. Disturbed and wayward teenagers were kept
in the large bunkhouse but due to unpaid debts
the program was closed.
The station was leased to the University of
Idaho in 1980 and Dan Dewald was hired as the
original manager. Dewald instituted the first
Enrichment Series Classes and encouraged the use
of the campus by local elementary school groups.
In 1986, Ken Kinucan was hired to replace Dewald
who had accepted another position. He continued
the renovation of the campus buildings, which
Dewald had started, and with the help of his
wife, Edie, expanded the Enrichment Series and
school programs.
The beautiful campus offers a magnificent
setting for academic courses and workshops,
conferences and retreats, school field trips and
overnights, and any group experience in which
privacy and comfort in a natural setting is
desired.
All photographs have been used with permission of the Bonner County Museum.
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