KC Collins Hummel, 712-366-4900
Michael V. Harding, 619-222-9862
Patricia Cooney-Nida, Ph.D. (800) 547-6339
Council
Bluffs, Iowa—The
Western Historic Trails Center located at 3434 Richard Downing Ave. (Exit 1B off
I80/29) will welcome the Flight of Discovery to Council Bluffs June 5 at 10:00
a.m. The Flight of Discovery, a team of general aviation pilot/scientists, will
fly the river corridors and overland routes of the Lewis and Clark expedition
during the 200th anniversary of the search for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific
Ocean. The expedition will depart from Clarksville, Indiana at the Falls of the
Ohio on June 1, 2004 and arrive two weeks later in Astoria, Oregon.
The Flight
of Discovery is composed of geologists, agronomists, botanists, ecologists and
anthropologists. Corps members will document cultural and environmental changes
along the route that have occurred over a two hundred year period by employing
scientific method and procedures, with reference to the 200-year old historical
record contained in the journals, correspondence, notes and samples assembled
from 1804-1806 by the Corps of Discovery.
The purpose
of the expedition is to connect people on and off the Trail with established history
and their environment through the utilization of familiar and available technology.
To achieve this goal, the expedition has donated a "Trunk of Discovery"
to a number of school districts and educational institutions along the route of
flight including the Western Historic Trails Center.
The Trunk
of Discovery, valued at more than $1,000, is used to enrich classroom activities
and field work, giving students the opportunity to collect scientific specimens
for a national collection commemorating the scientific goals of the Corps of Discovery.
Each Trunk contains a variety of educational materials and tools, including a
Global Positioning Satellite device (GPS), binoculars, pilot's weather computer,
plant press, and mineral test kit. Emphasis is placed on the sciences of ecology,
geology, zoology, botany, mathematics, meteorology, biology and the scientific
disciplines that President Thomas Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to investigate
during the 1804-1805 mission.
Flight of
Discovery Expedition Leader and environmental scientist Mike Harding of San Diego,
California conceived the trunk program as a way to help students "participate
in a modern day voyage of enlightenment." Harding notes, "Real improvements
in the quality of life come through education and improving people's awareness
of the environment in which they live."
"The
challenge of our expedition," adds Carol L. Forrest, P.E., Logistics Director,
"is to establish the amount of change from 'baseline' conditions that has
occurred since the original Corps of Discovery expedition from 1803-1806. Documenting
these changes will constitute an environmental barometer that can aid future decision-makers
- today's students - in addressing natural resource conservation/protection strategies
and policies."
More information and regular updates on the expedition's progress can be acquired
from the expedition's website, www.flightofdiscovery.com.
The program by Flight
of Discovery and the Western Historic Trails Center are free and open to the public.
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