Senate OKs route through flood path

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday night approved a bill to establish an Ice Age Floods National Geological Trail from Montana to the Pacific Ocean.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and other Western lawmakers, would create an auto route stretching from Missoula to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and tell the story of the Ice Age floods.

The four-state route would be managed by the National Park Service, in partnership with the private Ice Age Floods Institute and other groups.

Interpretive centers, signs, exhibits and roadside pullouts would be used to tell the story of the floods that tore through the region 15,000 years ago.

“Celebrating the unique geological history of the Pacific Northwest by creating a national trail will boost tourism … and provide a valuable educational tool,” said Cantwell.

“This is something the whole region can take pride in.”

The Park Service testified against the bill earlier this year, telling a Senate subcommittee the idea is too expensive.

Developing interpretive sites and buying land across the four states could cost between $8 million and $12 million, said Donald Murphy, Park Service deputy director. Operating the trail would cost $500,000 a year.

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has sponsored a similar bill in the House.