St. Helens Celebrates Connection to Lewis and Clark Expedition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2020

National Park Service designates the City of St. Helens a Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Community

ST. HELENS, OR – On Wednesday, August 5, the National Park Service recognized the City of St. Helens as a participant in its Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Sustainable Community Partnership Program. The designation celebrates St. Helens’ historic connection to Lewis and Clark’s 1803 expedition, known popularly as the Corps of Discovery expedition.

In order to qualify for this designation, the National Park Service requires that a community demonstrates its connection to the Corps of Discovery and that the connection is showcased and celebrated in a public way. As a community partner, the City of St. Helens will act as a steward in growing the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Geotourism project.

In St. Helens’ application to participate in the program, Mayor Rick Scholl noted, “We are excited to partner with the National Park Service to highlight our connection to the Corps of Discovery 1805-1806 journey. This is a great opportunity to celebrate and share our history and place on the Lower Columbia River.”

With its designation as a Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Sustainable Community Partner, St. Helens will receive tourism marketing support and resources to help educate visitors and residents about the community’s connection to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. St. Helens will also be featured on the Trail’s tourism promotion website, www.LewisandClark.Travel.

“The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail provides an opportunity for people from across the country and around the world to follow in the footsteps of the most iconic explorers of the American frontier,” says Dan Wiley, Chief of Integrated Resources for the Trail. “The new community partnership program showcases those communities along the Trail where visitors can learn about the historic expedition and the legacy which helped make these towns the communities they are now.”

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, administered by the National Park Service, is more than 4,900 miles long and traverses 16 states and many tribal lands along the historic route of the expedition. The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail was designated by Congress in 1978 to commemorate the 1803 to 1806 Corps of Discovery expedition.

This epic journey contributed significant scientific knowledge and profound political, social, economic, cultural, and environmental changes to the peoples and landscapes of the North American continent.

More information about the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is available at www.LewisandClark.Travel.

More information about the Sustainable Community Partnership program is at https://lewisandclark.travel/partner-community-program.

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For further information regarding the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, please contact:

Dan Wiley
Chief, Integrated Resources Stewardship
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Dan_Wiley@nps.gov

Derek Schimmel
Project and Communications Manager
Solimar International
d.schimmel@solimarinternational.com