SANDPOINT - A U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer who was fatally wounded in a gunfight 22 years ago has been awarded Idaho's Medal of Honor.

Brent "Jake" Jacobson was awarded the posthumous honor for "conspicuous gallantry and exceptionally meritorious conduct."

Jacobson, 41, was killed amid an exchange of gunfire with Joseph Earl Pratt and James Kevin Pratt on Jan. 11, 1989. Jacobson and a Bonner County sheriff's deputy cornered the two brothers in the rugged Smith Creek drainage following a botched home-invasion robbery in Sagle.

The brothers fled in a vehicle, touching off a rolling gun battle in which James Pratt fired on his pursuers with a 12-gauge shotgun, according to court documents.

The brothers ditched their vehicle and continued their flight on foot in the drainage west of Dover.

Jacobson volunteered to assist in the manhunt because of his familiarity with the area and expertise in tracking. With precious daylight slipping away, Jacobson discovered fresh footprints in the waist-deep snow and tracked the brothers to a small open area. Jacobson and the deputy ordered the men to surrender, but they opened fire. Jacobson was mortally wounded by a shotgun blast.

The brothers fled again, but later surrendered at a nearby farmhouse. They were convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and assault on a law officer. They are serving lifelong prison sentences.

"Officer Jacobson's extraordinary heroism and intrepidity, at the cost of his own life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the Bonner County Sheriff's Office and of Idaho law enforcement officers and reflect great credit upon himself," said a Medal of Honor citation signed by Gov. Butch Otter on May 20.

Jacobson is the first Forest Service officer in Idaho to be awarded the state's Medal of Honor, a tradition which dates back to 2005.

Jacobson was the third Forest Service law officer to be killed in the line of duty in the agency's history. The first occurred in the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah in 1918 and the second happened in the Angeles National Forest in California in 1941, according to the Forest Service.