During the next year managers along the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail (NPNHT) will host a number of workshops and ask for public input on topics related to the administration of the Trail.
The next sessions in this series of workshops are scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bozeman Public Library, 626 E. Main Street, in Bozeman, Mont; Wednesday June 15, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce, 30 Yellowstone Ave., in West Yellowstone, Mont; and Thursday June
16 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, 206 W. Main Street, in Cooke City, Mont.
On October 6, 1986, Congress amended the National Trails System Act of 1968 to include the 1,170 mile Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail (NPNHT). The Regional Forester of the Northern Region is delegated the responsibility from the Chief of the Forest Service for the administration of the NPNHT in cooperation with other affected Federal Agencies.
The 1990 Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for the NPNHT successfully established the start-up of the Trail which was the major focus for the plan at that time. Action is needed now to revise the current CMP for the NPNHT, because the CMP is more than 20 years old.
The CMP needs to be revised to meet future management challenges, address changed conditions, and embrace new opportunities to lead the management of the Trail into the 21st Century. Information gathered at these workshops, as well as written
public comment, will be used to help managers develop the purpose and need for action for the CMP revision.
The Trail commemorates the 1877 Flight of the non-treaty Nez Perce from their homelands while being pursued by the U.S. Army under the command of General Oliver Otis Howard. The journey of the Nez Perce from their homelands is one of the most fascinating and sorrowful events in U.S. history. The Nez Perce Chiefs saw flight to Canada as their last hope for peace. Their desperate and circuitous route is today called the Nez Perce National Historic Trail. It stretches from Wallowa Lake, OR, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Mont.
The Trail was also a prehistoric travel corridor for a number of tribes traveling from the Pacific Northwest to the buffalo hunting grounds on the Great Plains.
