06.28.05

Ice Age Flood Designation is Debated in Key Senate Committee

Cantwell Questions Park Service Opposition to Auto Tour Route; Bipartisan legislation would boost rural Washington tourism;

WASHINGTON , D.C. – Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today called on the Bush Administration to reconsider its opposition to legislation creating an Ice Age Floods National Geological Trail through portions of Washington , Oregon , Idaho , and Montana . The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Cantwell in the Senate and Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA-04) in the House, is modeled after a plan the administration itself proposed in 2001.

"The Ice Age Flood Trail would be a regional boost to several states in the North west," said Cantwell, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "The administration thought through this idea and wrote a 141 page report recommending the proposal contained in this legislation. Today's opposition by the Park Service doesn't pass the ‘common sense' test. I will continue fighting to pass this widely supported, bipartisan proposal."

The proposed trail would be managed by the National Park Service in partnership with the Ice Age Floods Institute and other local entities. Interpretive centers, signs and markers, exhibits, waysides and roadside pullouts would be used to tell the story of the floods. Cantwell believes the trail will serve as an educational tool and provide promising new opportunities for tourism and local economies.

The National Park Service announced their opposition to the legislation today during a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Their opposition is especially surprising because a 2001 Park Service study recognized the designation of a National Geologic Trail as "the most effective and efficient alternative."

Citing funding constraints, the Park Service Deputy Director Donald Murphy proposed a number of alternative plans, including a proposal that would incorporate more of the Ice Age Floods' story into interpretive displays at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, and provide information to visitors about other flood features in the North west region.

"The Park Service's alternative plan does not provide the collaboration needed to tell this unique scientific story," Cantwell said. "This small federal investment will help rural communities throughout the region leverage tourism and economic development efforts already underway."

Cantwell's bipartisan bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Larry Craig (R-ID), Gordon Smith (R-OR), and Conrad Burns (R-MT). Hastings ' identical bill in the House has 10 co-sponsors, including 4 Republicans.

"The distinguished list of senators supporting the legislation represents a strong, bipartisan, regional consensus on the need to create a National Trail designation," Cantwell added.

As a member of the committee, Cantwell arranged for Gary Kleinknecht, the president of the Ice Age Floods Institute and a high school teacher from the Tri-Cities, to testify at the hearing.

"We in the Ice Age Floods Institute are confident that the National Park Service would do an excellent job of coordinating and partnering with the many federal, state, local, tribal and private groups throughout the trail region to interpret these truly amazing events," Kleinknecht said. "A trail will provide a vehicle to reach more and more people, not only through tourism, but also as destinations for local school field trips and potential environmental centers."

# # #