Ice Age Floods Trail tourism could benefit region

In 2009 the Ice Age Floods Geologic Trail became reality through the federal Omnibus Public Land Management Act.

The Act gave responsibility for overseeing creation of the trail, which stretches from northwestern Montana through North Idaho, Eastern Washington and the Columbia Basin down the Columbia Gorge to the Pacific Ocean, to the National Park Service. But unlike most other acts of its kind, it provided none of the estimated $8 million to $12 million needed for the task.

Instead, local Ice Age Floods Institute chapters have taken it upon themselves to find ways to purchase small pieces of...