11.01.04

President Signs Cantwell-Baird Legislation to Create Lewis & Clark National Historic Park

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Bush signed into law a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA-03) that will create a Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. The park will encompass Fort Clatsop National Memorial, other state parks, and three additional Washington state sites significant to Lewis and Clark's original expedition.

Cantwell said, "By creating this park in time for the bicentennial we've not only helped ensure a successful celebration, but also provided an important boost for local tourism that will pump jobs and money into southwest Washington."

In preparation for next year's bicentennial celebration of Lewis and Clark's historic expedition, the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park Designation Act will 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. It will protect Clark's Dismal Nitch, where the expedition first viewed the ocean and was trapped during a horrific six-day storm. It will also set aside Station Camp, where the group held a historic vote among all group members – including Sacagawea and York – on where the expedition should stay for the winter. Finally, Cantwell's bill will preserve Cape Disappointment, marking the furthest point westward reached by Lewis and Clark.

The legislation designates these 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.

Rep. Baird added, "This has been a cooperative effort from the very start and is in the best tradition of the Corps of Discovery itself. The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park will be a wonderful resource for keeping the story of Lewis and Clark alive and vibrant for our children."

The bill is supported by the U.S. Department of the Interior; state legislators, including State Sen. Mark L. Doumit, State Rep. Brian Hatfield, and State Rep. Brian Blake; and historian Rex Ziak, who Sen. Cantwell invited to testify at a hearing on the bill in May.

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 cosponsored in 2002, called the Fort Clatsop Expansion Act. The bill also expanded Fort Clatsop National Memorial from 125 acres to 1500 acres. The park is the only national park solely dedicated to Lewis and Clark.