The Proposed Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail

In 2001, the National Park Service completed a major Special Resource Study and submitted a report to Congress proposing that an Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail be established. Such a Trail would represent the largest, most systematic, and most cooperative effort yet proposed to bring the dramatic story of the Ice Age Floods to the public's attention, and this has the potential to bring significant economic and cultural benefits to communities throughout the Northwest. The report was prepared by the firm of Jones and Jones and is available in PDF or HTML format at this NPS website: http://www.nps.gov/iceagefloods/.

The Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail would essentially be a network of marked touring routes extending across parts of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, with several special interpretive centers located across the region:

Proposed Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail

Proposed Ice Age Floods Pathways (touring routes) and possible locations
for interpretive facilities (figure prepared by Jones & Jones).

The Park Service's report indicates that, by bringing together many interested parties, an effective interpretive program can be developed within a collaborative structure and at remarkably low cost, despite the extraordinary size of the region. The Trail can also be developed on existing public lands, with no changes in jurisdiction and no threats to private property rights. The role of the National Park Service would be to coordinate and manage the planning of the project and the telling of the story, not to manage any more land than it already is responsible for.

To establish the Trail, nearly identical bills have recently been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Please read on to find out how to support that legislation.

The Ice Age Floods Institute is working to educate people about the potential benefits of the Trail, and to encourage Congress to move the project forward. We invite you to join us in our efforts. More details about various aspects of the trail legislation are given below.

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The National Park Service Report

The best statement of how the story of the Ice Age Floods can be told regionally is contained in the report of a major Special Resource Study completed by the National Park Service (NPS) in 2001. The full title of the report is Ice Age Floods Study of Alternatives and Environmental Assessment: Following the Pathways of the Glacial Lake Missoula Floods.

Fairly detailed maps and information about proposed Trail routes and interpretive sites appear in "Section J: Interpretation" of the report. The report also provides an illustrated overview of the history of the cataclysmic floods hypothesis and of the idea of developing a systematic interpretive presentation of the Floods. Those sections will be interesting to anyone interested in the Floods.

Although the study process and the content and organization of the report had to meet certain procedural specifications, the report won two national awards as an exemplary planning document, and, in particular, was cited for its plain, non-technical language.

It may also be worth noting that the report is primarily conceptual. Some of the examples of particular routes and sites given in the report were identified in the study conducted in 1999 and 2000. Since then, new ideas have surfaced that could affect specific elements and priorities of the project when it is implemented. But these changes would not change the basic conceptual approach outlined in the report.

Read/obtain the National Park Service report on their website:
To view in your browser: www.nps.gov/iceagefloods/
Printable PDF of original printed version: www.nps.gov/iceagefloods/pdf.htm

In the fall of 2005, representatives from NPS and other federal agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to "develop a coordinated and scientifically accepted interpretation of the nationally significant values and features of the Glacial Lake Missoula ice age floods". The agencies have created a Federal Ice Age Floods Interagency Technical Committee to meet at least annually to work toward this goal.

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Why Do We Need an Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail?

The region lacks a coordinated interpretive approach to the Ice Age Floods story. The understanding and appreciation of the Ice Age Floods is a relatively recent phenomenon. As recently as the 1960s, not all geologists accepted the hypothesis of catastrophic Ice Age flooding in the Pacific Northwest. It took decades for the geologic community to accept the hypothesis of J Harlen Bretz, who was instrumental in proposing the idea of catastrophic flooding. In 1979 the Geological Society of America awarded Bretz the Penrose Medal, the nation’s highest geological award. In 1986, John Allen and Marjorie Burns published Cataclysms on the Columbia, which sparked a wave of public interest in the Floods. In 1994 a video of the Floods was developed by the Washington State University Landscape Architecture program in cooperation with the National Park Service, and a year later the Smithsonian magazine featured an article by Michael Parfit on the Floods. In 1998 Oregon Public Broadcasting produced a video program on the Floods, and public awareness of the Floods increased dramatically.

During this same period, tourism--especially "cultural tourism"--was growing at a rapid rate in the Pacific Northwest. The income from increasing tourism helped offset economic losses that were occurring in some parts of the region from reduced timber and mining activities. The visible remnants of the Floods are on such a large scale and found at so many different sites that change has not dramatically affected them, but as the area continues to develop the region will experience accelerated changes. These changes may affect floods features. At the present time, there is an opportunity to develop a cooperative effort to educate the public about the Ice Age Floods, to contribute to existing cultural tourism programs in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and to develop a better understanding and appreciation of the remaining resources from the greatest documented floods on earth.

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Where Things Stand in Congress

03-25-09. The Trail bill has passed Congress! HR 146, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, is a bundle of 164 bills, including the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail bill. It was passed by the House today after passing the Senate earlier this year. In the House, of the 17 Representatives from the four Northwest states, only Hastings (WA), McMorris Rodgers (WA) and Rehberg (MT) voted "nay", apparently opposing the omnibus but not the Trail bill component. On this vote, a 2/3 majority was not required, but there it is. In the Senate, the preceding vote (3/19) was 77-20, with all 8 of the region's Senators voting in favor. It is now going on to President Obama for his expected signature.

Even though he was the original House sponsor of the Ice Age Flood National Geologic Trail proposal, Rep. Doc Hastings, D-Pasco, voted against the public lands bill, saying there were too many problems with the legislation to justify a yes vote. "This bill, on the whole, is not worthy of my support," Hastings said during floor debate. As the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, Hastings led the opposition to the measure. Approved earlier by the Senate, the measure cleared the House, 285-140, and is headed to the White House, where President Barack Obama is expected to sign it. The 1,218-page measure pulled together 150 public lands, parks and water bills into one package. Among other things, the legislation designated 2 million acres of additional wilderness in nine states, though not Washington, and 1,000 miles of new wild and scenic rivers; and created three national park units, one national monument and 10 national heritage areas. The measure also provided new protections to the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest Scenic Trail, which runs from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean, crossing three national parks and seven national forests.

The National Park Service will oversee the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, which will cost an estimated $8 million to $12 million to establish. All six of Washington’s Democratic members, along with Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, voted for the bill. Hastings said the bill was "largely a product of closed-door deal making" by Democrats, while Republicans were denied any "reasonable" participation. He said the bill would restrict potential development of energy resources on public lands; affect national security by banning the use of vehicles along some sections of the border; and ban the use of motorized vehicles, including wheelchairs, on public lands covered in the bill. Hastings was also angry that Democrats blocked his effort to offer a floor amendment that would have overturned a recent court decision striking down a Bush administration rule allowing the carrying of firearms in the national parks under certain circumstances.

Appropriation of money to staff the trail and create the management plan is the next task. We have submitted electronic budget request materials to the primary sponsors, Senator Cantwell and Congressman Hastings. The job isn't over yet, but this is a really important milestone. Thank you all who have helped in this long journey. Your many hours (in many cases many years) of writing letters and articles, making phone calls, talking with the public and public leaders, organizing and leading field trips and generally being cheerleaders for the Trail have done the trick.

The process of establishing a trail such as this is often long, as we now understand. The authorization legislation is really only the next step. When the designation bill is finally passed and signed by the President, money will still need to be appropriated. That amounts to another round of committee work and hopefully a final vote. If we are fortunate, these two steps may be accomplished this year. That will take us to the management plan study which will determine exactly how the trail will be managed and what features, interpretive facilities, etc. will be included. The National Park Service will conduct the study in conjunction with the Ice Age Floods Institute and other interested parties.

You can contact the representatives through the House of Representatives website at Write Your Representative. E-mail is now the preferred way to contact your representative, and will reach them sooner than a letter will.

If you live in the Northwest, please send a note to your Senators as well, letting them know that you support the bill, and thanking them for their sponsorship.

The Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) Board of Directors has adopted a position statement dealing with the major provisions of enabling legislation.

More information on the current status of the bill will be posted here as it becomes available.

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Making the Case

Perhaps the most effective argument for the Trail is economic. By raising awareness of the Ice Age Floods, the Trail would both encourage domestic tourism and attract international visitors. The increase in tourism could be particularly beneficial for many of the rural communities in the region.

In addition, through a partnership of many public and private participants, the proposed Trail offers the opportunity to draw local economic benefit from much publicly owned land. It should be possible to act on a region-wide, non-partisan basis to implement the Trail proposal.

To make the Trail happen, individuals and local firms, groups, and agencies should make their interest known to their Representative and Senators. At the local level, interested citizens should contact local IAFI Board members and chapter officers to learn about what is being done in the respective states and districts, to move consideration of the Trail forward. (See the IAFI Directory).

For questions about the membership and organization of the House and Senate and about the legislative process, start at the Library of Congress site (called "Thomas," for Thomas Jefferson): http://thomas.loc.gov/

For information about the structure and programs of federal agencies that would have a part in the Trail project, start at the USA.gov site: http://www.usa.gov/

For questions related to any existing federal statutes that might have a bearing on the project, go to http://uscode.house.gov/usc.htm, which offers a searchable version of the U.S. Code. (The study report contains the section of the U.S. Code that relates to conducting this kind of study and presenting the report.)

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