06.10.05

Cantwell Helps Secure $1.6 Million for Lewis and Clark National Historic Park

WASHINGTON , D.C. – U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who pushed legislation through the Senate last year to create a Lewis and Clark National Historic Park , announced this morning that a Senate appropriations bill contained $1.6 million for acquiring sites important to Lewis and Clark's remarkable arrival at the Pacific Ocean . When complete, the park will encompass Fort Clatsop National Memorial, other state parks, and three additional Washington state sites significant to Lewis and Clark 's expedition.

"Last year, we created a new National Park so that Southwest Washington could prepare for bicentennial celebrations of Lewis and Clark's extraordinary expedition. Now we are delivering resources to permanently protect these sites," Cantwell said. "This park will provide a great boost for local tourism, creating jobs and pumping money and investments into Southwest Washington."

Last November, President Bush signed legislation introduced by Cantwell (D-WA) and Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA-03) that created the park. Later that month, Cantwell and Baird joined local officials and Fran Mainella, the Director of the National Park Service, for a park dedication ceremony at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center near Ilwaco.

The legislation was passed in preparation for this year's bicentennial celebration of Lewis and Clark's historic expedition. The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park Designation Act will eventually protect three sites, totaling 560 acres, on the lower Columbia River that played crucial roles during the Corps of Discovery expedition's dramatic arrival at the Pacific Ocean: Dismal Nitch, Station Camp, and Cape Disappointment.

The legislation designates those sites and Oregon's Fort Clatsop National Memorial as the "Lewis and Clark National Historic Park." The bill also authorizes management partnerships with Oregon's Ecola State Park and Fort Stevens State Park, and Washington's Fort Columbia State Park and Cape Disappointment State Park.

Cantwell and Baird introduced their legislation after the National Park Service completed a yearlong public process, determining these three sites of "national significance, suitability, and feasibility" and recommended they be added to Fort Clatsop. The study was a result of legislation Cantwell co-sponsored in 2002, called the Fort Clatsop Expansion Act. The bill also expanded Fort Clatsop National Memorial from 125 acres to 1500 acres.

The $1.6 million in funding was included in the fiscal year 2006 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Cantwell hopes the full Senate, and House of Representatives, will also approve funding for the park.

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