Fort To Sea Trail

January 28, 2005
ODOT awards contract to construct Pedestrian Underpass.

November 12, 2004
NPS Director Fran Mainella, Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Brian Baird, Congressman David Wu and other dignitaries dedicate the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park.

October 30, 2004
President Bush signs the law creating the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park.

October 3, 2004
ACEC Oregon announces heritage project.

September 21, 2004
Oregon DLCD awards $50,000 for Lewis and Clark trail construction project.

September 21, 2004
LCDC to hold regular meeting Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Astoria.

September 14, 2004
Oregon National Guard donates equipment and time to build access road at Sunset Beach for Fort-to-Sea Trail Project.

August 2, 2004
Lewis & Clark Bicentennial:
Fort Clatsop youth volunteers start work on Fort-to-Sea trail.
Eighteen Oregon companies, agencies and organizations donate services.

July 19, 2004
House Passes Legislation to Create Lewis & Clark National and State Historical Park in Washington and Oregon.

LEWIS AND CLARK NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK HONORED FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GREENWAYS PRESERVATION

Leaders Recognized at Kodak American Greenways Awards sponsored by Eastman Kodak, National Geographic Society, and The Conservation Fund

Washington, D.C. (September 8, 2005) – Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park was one of four honorees to receive national recognition for outstanding achievement in greenways preservation at the Kodak American Greenways Awards held today in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by Eastman Kodak, National Geographic Society, and The Conservation Fund, the award honors leading individuals, organizations, and corporations for their vision and commitment to protecting the nation’s network of open space, trails and greenways. The ceremony also recognized the Honorable Mark R. Warner, Governor of Virginia, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Maxine Johnston of the Big Thicket Association for outstanding achievement.

The Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park was recognized for its outstanding leadership and support of new trail and greenway initiatives. Thanks to an extraordinary public and private partnership orchestrated by superintendent Chip Jenkins, the park will debut its flagship greenway, the Fort to Sea Trail, in November. These greenways and “blueways,” including river corridors, natural areas and trails, enhance water quality and provide important wildlife habitat and public recreation areas across the nation.

“On behalf of the Kodak American Greenways program, I am particularly pleased to present the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park with an award for outstanding achievement in greenway and open space preservation,” said The Conservation Fund’s president, Larry Selzer. “ America's greenways, blueways, and trails serve as lifelines between neighborhoods, parks, and people. Thanks to the leadership of superintendent Chip Jenkins and the support of Eastman Kodak and National Geographic, we are building partnerships that will preserve a network of open space for future generations.”

Dr. David Kiser, Vice President of Environment, Health, and Safety at Eastman Kodak Company, joined Selzer to present the awards at the ceremony, held at the National Geographic Society.

“We are extremely pleased to be a part of the American Greenways Program,” said Kiser. “Helping families experience natural beauty in their own backyards is one of the most important things we can do for our children and for generations to come.”

Following stream corridors, abandoned rail lines, canals or other linear landscape features, greenways preserve wildlife habitat, enhance water quality and provide opportunities for close-to-home outdoor recreation and sustainable economic development.

“ I'm both proud and humbled to accept this award on behalf of the Governor's Oregon Solutions team,” said Chip Jenkins, superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park. “It is the State of Oregon working with private business and the National Parks Service – together in an outstanding partnership – that will make the Fort to Sea Trail a reality this November.”

In addition to announcing the awards for outstanding achievement, the group presented 47 community organizations with small grants of up to $2,500 to help develop new action-oriented greenway projects. Since 1992, the Kodak American Greenways Program, administered by The Conservation Fund, has supported nearly 500 groups across the nation.

“Greenways are America’s parks for the 21 st century,” said Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman of the National Geographic Society. “With the help of companies like Kodak, a growing network is linking our city streets to parklands and other open spaces in ways that encourage us to get out of our cars and into the landscape. Publicly or privately owned, greenways represent a grand design for creating a new green infrastructure for America.”

Since 1985 The Conservation Fund and its partners have permanently protected more than 4 million acres of important wildlife habitat, working landscapes, and recreation areas. For the fourth year in a row, the Fund was named the nation’s top-rated environmental nonprofit by the American Institute of Philanthropy. With a 1 percent fundraising cost, the lowest of all environmental groups in the country, and a program allocation of 96 percent, the Fund is unmatched for its efficiency and effectiveness.

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21st CENTURY MILITARY TRAIL BUILDERS FOLLOW LEWIS AND CLARK'S STEPS, RETIRED GEN. TOMMY FRANKS INSPECTS TROOPS WORKING ON THE TRAIL

WARRENTON, OR -- Two hundred years ago, U.S. military volunteers, now known as the Corps of Discovery, were the first non-Native Americans to blaze the trail to the sea over Northwest Oregon coastal hills and wetlands.

Today, thanks to the military, enormous construction progress is being made this summer on the new Fort-To-Sea Trail project, which will replicate the Lewis and Clark expedition’s original footpath between Fort Clatsop and the Pacific Ocean. The trail is a partnership of the National Park Service, Oregon State Parks and Recreation, and more than 15 businesses donating an estimated $400,000 in goods and services.

“The six-mile trail will be a lasting legacy of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial observance in Oregon,” says Chip Jenkins, superintendent of the newly created Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park headquartered at the Fort Clatsop replica near Astoria, OR.

Tommy Franks tours trail

Two units of the Oregon Army National Guard, plus U.S. Army and Marine Reserve units, are working on various sections of the trail, which will be dedicated Nov. 14, 2005. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Coast Guard also helped by airlifting building materials to remote sections of the trail.

The quality of work on the trail impressed a recent surprise visitor, retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, a member of the National Park Foundation Board of Directors, a congressionally chartered organization that exists to raise funds for parks development. Franks served as Commander-in-Chief of United States Central Command, overseeing United States armed forces operations in the Middle East during the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions. Some of the National Guard personnel working on the trail served under Gen. Franks in Iraq. ( See Tommy Franks photos.)

"This looks great!" Jenkins says the General told him. "What a great way for people to experience history."

"Partnerships are the way to make good things happen," Franks told Jenkins.

Troops push trail forward

In June and July, voluntary help from the military resulted in the following:

Bridge installations: Specialized units of the Army Reserves helped assemble the 150-foot-long pedestrian bridge crossing Sunset Lake. These same units also installed bridges across the Skipanon River and East Neacoxie Lake.

Sunset Beach: National Guard troops (See photos) have completed the west trailhead, including the parking area, restrooms, a boardwalk (accessible path) to Sunset Beach from the trailhead and a viewing platform overlooking the beach.

Perkins Road : The Guard has done a “terrific job” on converting the abandoned stagecoach road (Perkins Road) to become a one-mile long accessible trail linking Fort Clatsop’s Visitor Center to the overlook on Clatsop Ridge, Jenkins says. (See overlook rendering.) In addition, Guard units have repaired one mile of previously impassible terrain so it can be used as a bike trail and as a road for administrative and emergency services.

Camp Rilea: The National Guard is building the section of the trail that skirts its own training facility at Camp Rilea, located south of Warrenton and just west of U.S. Highway 101.

“These soldiers are gaining valuable and practical construction experience. They’re developing skills that are needed for when they are deployed into action,” Jenkins says. “And, it helps them develop skills they can use to compete for jobs when they return to civilian life.”

“We’d be way behind in our timeline without their help,” adds Jenkins.

More than 125 military volunteers are working as part of the National Guard’s Innovative Readiness

Training Program. Units working on the project include the 1249th Engineer Battalion, headquartered in Salem, and the B-52nd Engineer Company, which is also part of the 1249th.

The Army Reserve unit installing the bridges is the 671st Engineer Company, out of Portland, and the Readiness Command (RRC), based in Seattle, WA.

“It’s hard to put a dollar amount on the value of the military’s contribution so far, but it’s about $100,000 to date,” Jenkins adds.

CONTACTS:

Chip Jenkins, Superintendent, Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park
Phone: 1-503-861-2471 ext 401 ( Astoria); email: chip_jenkins@nps.gov

Doug Babb, Project media relations manager, Conkling Fiskum & McCormick, Inc.
Phone: 503 802-4104; email: dougb@cfmpdx.com

LEWIS & CLARK BICENTENNIAL IN OREGON

News Release

FORT-TO-SEA TRAIL PROJECT
Website: www.forttosea.org

Media Advisory

April 15, 2005

U.S. COAST GUARD COMES TO THE RESCUE
OF THE FORT-TO-SEA TRAIL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

WHAT:
Five loads of building materials will be airlifted by U.S. Coast Guard helicopters to remote sections of Clatsop County. The supplies are needed for construction of the Fort-to-Sea Trail, a six-mile pedestrian path that will connect the Fort Clatsop National Memorial to Sunset Beach. The USCG airlifts are classified as a training exercise and will go a long way toward helping the trail project be completed by Nov. 14, 2005, when Oregon observes the Lewis and Clark bicentennial.

WHEN:
The flights are scheduled for Tuesday April 19, weather permitting. There will be 5 to 7 flights beginning at 1:30 p.m.

WHO:
Coast Guard Air Station Astoria will use a Jayhawk helicopter to fly the materials.

WHERE:
The materials will be staged at the old log sort yard on Fort Clatsop Road, approximately two miles south of Fort Clatsop. From there, the material will be flown to the trail. Jill Harding, chief of visitor services for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park will be available to assist the media.

DIRECTIONS:
From US 101, take Fort Clatsop Road. Once past the entrance to the fort’s visitors’ center, continue south on Fort Clatsop Road for two miles then look for the sorting yard.

BACKGROUND:
The primary building material is cedar lumber that will be used to construct smaller, 20-to-30 foot-long bridges and boardwalk. The lumber was milled locally from the recycled power poles and logs salvaged from Columbia River port piers in Astoria. The materials will be flown to the most remote section of trail in an area east of US Highway 101.

The Coast Guard has generously agreed to provide this valuable logistical support for the Fort-to-Sea Trail. “If the project team did not get this support, we would have either used inmate crews or volunteer crews to hike the lumber in almost two miles to the construction site.” Says Chip Jenkins, Superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park.

The Fort-to-Sea Trail will be a legacy project of the bicentennial, resulting in a new tourist attraction in the Lower Columbia River region. The trail will replicate the route members of the Corps of Discovery trekked between their winter quarters at Fort Clatsop and the Pacific Ocean. The project is jointly managed by the National Park Service and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

RELATED STORY:
Trail will use recycled poles re-milled as lumber. See story at www.forttosea.org.

CONTACTS:

Ensign Jeffrey Pollinger, Public Affairs, US Coast Guard, Seattle Jeffrey.S.Pollinger@uscg.mil

Chip Jenkins, Superintendent, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Phone: 1-503-861-2471 ext 401 (Astoria); email: chip_jenkins@nps.gov

Jill Harding, Chief of Visitor Services for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: office
phone is 503-861-4421