Donald M. Kerr (conservationist)

Donald M. Kerr
Don Kerr High Desert Museum founder
Born	1946 Portland, Oregon, US
Died	February 4, 2015 (aged 69) Bend, Oregon, US
Education	Oregon State University
Occupation	Wildlife biologist
Board member of	High Desert Museum

Donald M. Kerr (1946 – February 4, 2015) was a wildlife biologist and conservationist. He founded the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. Kerr lead the museum for sixteen years, helping it develop and expand to become one of Central Oregon's most popular tourist attractions. The museum’s bird of prey center and a high desert conservation award are named in his honor.

Kerr was born in Portland, Oregon in 1946. He was a third generation Oregonian. At the age of 12, he became interested in falconry when a teacher brought a live falcon to class. That experience sparked a broader interest in wildlife and nature in general. In high school, Kerr raised a wolf cub as a biology project. He attended Oregon State University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in journalism in 1969.

After graduating from Oregon State University, Kerr went to work at Portland’s Washington Park Zoo (now called the Oregon Zoo). He later took a job with the Nature Conservancy as a wildlife biologist. In the late 1970s, Kerr moved to Central Oregon with the idea of creating a museum with living animals exhibited in their natural environments.

In 1974, Kerr founded the Western Natural History Institute. After five years of fund raising, he persuaded the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company to donate 135 acres (55 ha) of timberland for a nature museum site. The property was located 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Bend just east of U.S. Route 97. Construction of the museum began in May 1982. The museum building was completed and opened its doors to the public later that year. Originally, the museum was called the Oregon High Desert Museum. However, the museum's name was later changed to the High Desert Museum to highlight the fact that the high desert environment stretches across a large part of the western United States.