Ceremony at White House Today

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT PLAYING CENTRAL ROLE IN
LEWIS & CLARK BICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION

WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton and other top officials of the Interior Department participated in a ceremony at the White House today at which President Bush showcased a proclamation declaring 2003-2006 as "the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial."

"As we approach the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's expedition, we commend their resourcefulness, determination, and bravery," the proclamation said. "This Bicentennial should also serve to remind us of our nation's outstanding natural resources. Many of these treasures first detailed by Lewis and Clark are available today for people to visit, study and enjoy."

Hundreds of sites administered by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies of the department are involved in the bicentennial commemoration.

In addition to Secretary Norton, also participating were Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife & Parks Craig Manson; Assistant Secretary for Land & Minerals Management Rebecca Watson; NPS Director Fran Mainella; BLM Director Kathleen Clarke; FWS Director Steve Williams; and Bureau of Reclamation Director John Keys.

The Secretary issued the following brief statement:

It is a privilege for me to be here two hundred years later as the Secretary of Interior. The commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition involves the agencies of the Department of the Interior and hundreds of our department's sites. These sites range from the BLM's Pompey's Pillar in Montana, where Captain Clark signed his name in rock, to NPS's Fort Clatsop National Memorial, the winter camp of the expedition in Oregon.

In addition to our well known duties as stewards of national parks, refuges and other public lands, the Department of the Interior is entrusted with preserving and caring for America's historical resources and carrying out trust responsibilities for Indian tribes. The Bicentennial has thus captured the imagination of thousands of our employees nationwide.

No employee has been more involved than Gerard Baker, superintendent of the 3,700-mile-long Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which is overseen by the National Park Service in cooperation with other state, federal and local agencies. Gerard is not only an experienced National Park Service manager but also a leader of the Mandan-Hidatsa tribes, which so ably assisted Lewis and Clark 200 years ago. Although he could not be with us today as he is recovering from bypass surgery, by January 2003, Gerard Baker plans to be ready to lead the Corps of Discovery II, a re-enactment of the Expedition that will leave from Monticello to re-trace the explorers' route.

A multi-agency project, Corps of Discovery II will travel through the American heartland to the Pacific Ocean and then return to St. Louis in 2006. It will recreate the epic journey crossing 19 states and making stops in large urban areas, American Indian reservations, and small towns. Later Corps II will take its traveling education center to areas off the original trail from Florida to Texas, Minnesota to California. Through a combination of mobile museum exhibits, live interpretation, and use of the internet, it will reach millions of people.

This commemorative expedition -- relying on the sophisticated information and transportation technologies of the 21^st Century -- is an example of how modern 'explorations' can reach people around the globe quickly, rather than waiting for messengers traveling by horse and foot 200 years ago. And we are fortunate that President George W. Bush is leading our nation on these new explorations in this new century because he is a great champion of our parks and our American heritage.

In his remarks today, President Bush concluded that, "The Lewis and Clark expedition lasted just a couple of years, but it changed the face of our country forever. It opened up the American West for future development. It increased our knowledge of our natural resources. It helped us gain a better understanding of America's native cultures. Most importantly, the Lewis and Clark Expedition will stand forever as a monument to the American spirit, a spirit of optimism and courage and persistence in the face of adversity."

For more information on the Lewis and Clark trail, visit www.nps.gov/lecl. The Department of the Interior will publish a special magazine issue on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the fall.

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