National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Fort Clatsop National Memorial Astoria, Oregon

Where as, On August 21, 2002 President Bush signed into law a boundary expansion for Fort Clatsop National Memorial that would allow for the creation of the Fort To The Sea Trail.

Where as, Fort Clatsop National Memorial, established in 1958, marks the spot where Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-1806, and is the only unit of the National Park System solely dedicated to commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Where as, The Fort Clatsop Expansion Act also directed the National Park Service to study sites in southern Washington state, along the Columbia River to determine their suitability for inclusion into the National Park System.

Where as, the sites to be studied in the State of Washington represent where the drama of the mission of the Corps of Discovery was fulfilled by safely arriving at the Pacific Ocean.

Where as, the Department of Interior, National Park Service and Destination The Pacific (the Washington and Oregon organizing committee) have publicly committed to a "signature event" at Fort Clatsop in November 2005. A main feature of this event is the dedication of an expanded National Memorial, the dedication of a park at Station Camp and the opening of the Fort to the Sea Trail.

Where as, the law establishing the boundary expansion represents a half-way point in a process heavily influenced by local stakeholders, and enjoys broad, bipartisan support at all levels, including both states federal congressional delegation, governors, local elected officials, state and local bicentennial planning committees, and the Chinook Tribe.

Where as, the largest land owner effected by the expansion, Weyerhaeuser, testified in support of the Expansion Act, and all land owners involved continued to support selling their land for an expanded National Memorial.

Where as, the Washington State Historical Society and Washington Department of Transportation have obtained the funding to purchase land, reroute Hwy 101 and construct a park at Station Camp with a dedication as part of the Bicentennial celebrations.

Where as, Oregon's Governor Kulankoski has designated the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Expansion an Oregon Solutions Project with the expectation that the land acquisition and construction of the Fort To The Sea Trail will be dedicated as part of the Bicentennial celebrations.

Where as, time is of the essence in completing the land acquisition, studies and necessary construction activities for the bicentennial commemoration.

Therefore, The Lewis and Clark National Bicentennial Council supports federal appropriations for land acquisition to complete the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Expansion and,

Asks the National Park Service to complete the Lower Columbia River Lewis and Clark Sites Boundary Study by late summer 2003.

Asks that the Secretary of Interior transmits the Lower Columbia River Lewis and Clark Sites Boundary Study to congress by early fall 2003 and,

Supports efforts by congress and the President to enact legislation based upon the recommendations of the Boundary Study.

National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial
P O Box 11940 Saint Louis, MO 63112-0040
Phone: 888-999-1803 Fax: 314-454-3162 www.lewisandclark200.org