Lewis and Clark Trail Updates 2023

About this article: This article was originally published in the Lewis & Clark Trail Annual Report 2023.

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PNTS

Trail Ecologist Mitch Meyer and Volunteer and Partnership Specialist Ashley Danielson attended this year’s Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) meeting in Orlando, Florida to network with other trail professionals from around the country.

Mitch and Ashley presented on a panel as part of the Climate and Resiliency session. Ashley discussed the Lewis and Clark Trail climate team and how we center climate change in our work. Mitch presented on natural resources planning and how we are using climate data to inform our decision making.

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Climate Team

In January 2023, an interdisciplinary group of employees from the trail came together to form the Lewis and Clark NHT Climate Team. The goal of this group is to center climate change in our work.

Current projects include reducing energy consumption in the office, incorporating climate change data into natural resources strategic planning, and working to develop a climate change interpretation web page. By meeting once a month, we have been able to keep a focus on addressing and communicating about climate change and look forward to future projects.

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1 million page views

One million page views!! The Lewis and Clark NHT webpage hit a milestone in 2023 as we hosted more than one million pageviews. This accomplishment was only possible with the hard work and contributions of many staff and volunteers, but especially Volunteer Kent Schlawin who researches and writes content daily for the website and social media.

Updates this year include new shared content and a reorganization of information pages. The trail currently has the second highest number of pieces of shared content in the entire National Park Service.

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Strategic Priorities

In May of 2023, the entire Lewis and Clark NHT staff met to update our strategic priorities. Over the course of a daylong session, we discussed the broad parts of our work we see as most important to focus on in the coming years. A smaller three-person team refined the workshop language into exact strategic priorities and indicators of success for each priority.
The final product included these six overall priorities: Awareness, Engagement and Partnerships, Interpretation and Education, Visitor Experience, Stewardship and Protection, and Leadership.

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Nate Hess - a new role

Hello! My name is Nate Hess and as of March 2023, I’m the newest Cultural Resources Program Manager (CRPM) for the Lewis and Clark NHT. I began my NPS career as a seasonal interpreter at Gettysburg National Military Park in 2011, then joined the Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Center staff in 2017.

As a CRPM, I work on our compliance processes, a variety of resource protection projects, and serve as a subject matter expert on Lewis and Clark history. Please contact me with any compliance or history related questions!

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CPR/AED/First Aid Training

Omaha, NE. Lewis and Clark Trail Park Guide Trainee Josh Hennings practices his skills during a CPR/AED/First Aid certification course.

The training was offered by our very own Supervisory Park Ranger Kassey Trahanas who is a certified CPR/AED/First Aid instructor as well as a lifeguard and swim instructor. A total of 12 employees are now certified.