The Lewis & Clark Bicentennial 2003-2006 commemorates the three-year journey of these explorers and the cultures they encountered. The trail crosses ten states, it is more than 4,000 miles long and it passes through the largest rural and underserved region in the lower 48 states. Although there are a few urban centers, a more typical community along the trail averages fewer than 300 people.

Tourism studies for the bicentennial are projecting that 15 million to 25 million people will travel some or all of the trail during the commemoration. This opportunity has brought together 23 federal agencies, more than 35 tribal nations and scores of state agencies and trail groups. Telling the story about the cultures that came after Lewis and Clark became the focus of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Cultural Development Initiative supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through a cooperative agreement with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA).

In October 2001, NASAA convened representatives from tourism, public lands, trail groups, cultural agencies, bicentennial organizations and tribal nations to determine what they had in common other than the bicentennial. They agreed that culture cuts across all boundaries, and over the next few months outlined a vision, a set of principles and suggested calls to action for the major partners in the event.

At the 7th Annual Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Planning meeting in April 2002, NASAA presented the results, articulated in the ArtsPlan. The document is a tool for the cultural community -- arts, humanities and heritage -- and the bicentennial partners to describe their efforts with one message. It lists a set of principles and invites public and private sector partners to participate in creating sustainable cultural activities.

Most importantly, the ArtsPlan is designed to stand on its own and remains relevant beyond the bicentennial. As such, it is a potential framework for channeling multiagency and multisector efforts and resources to foster sustainable cultural tourism.

The Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Cultural Development Initiative is a convergence of many of the same partners and issues targeted by the NEA in the Share Your Heritage initiative and the Challenge America program. The results of the initiative will be cultural programming for the bicentennial and a legacy of broad-based coalitions to support rural and underserved cultural and economic development.

Updates on the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial can be found on the national bicentennial council Web site.