National Park Service Grants Help Montana State Parks Prepare For Lewis And Clark Bicentennial Visitors

Print

Montana’s State Parks recently received $85,000 from the National Park Service to make improvements for visitors during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial celebration.

“The grant money will cover a significant portion of the costs for creative visitor   information programs at Headwaters and Giant Springs State Parks,” said Ken Soderberg, State Parks program manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

At Missouri Headwaters State Park, near Three Forks, a $35,000 grant will help fund a staff position for two years to research and present programs for parks visitors and at local area schools.

At Giant Springs State Park, in Great Falls, a $15,000 grant will provide staff to research and present programs for parks visitors for two years.

A second $35,000 grant will go to Giant Springs State Park to replace and update signs along a 2-mile section of the south shore of the Missouri River, including the Rainbow, Lewis and Clark and Crooked Falls overlooks.

Giant Springs State Park will play a central role in the “Explore the Big Sky” Lewis and Clark Bicentennial signature event in July 2005.

“We have a number of projects underway to ensure Montanans and out of state visitors have the opportunity to experience the Lewis and Clark story and other stories significant to the area both before and after Lewis and Clark visited,” Soderberg said.

Over $4 million was available nationwide through the National Park Service’s 2004 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Challenge Cost Share project awards. The Challenge Cost Share Program is administered by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail office in Omaha, Nebraska.