A trail that follows Lewis and Clark's route is only as good as what you can see from it. In 2023, staff at Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail revived the trail's Visual Resource Inventory (VRI) — a systematic way of recording and scoring its scenic views, so they can be protected as the landscape around them changes and development spreads.
A team inventories views at West Platte Game Production Area, South Dakota. Photo by the National Park Service
How a view gets scored
The method was developed by Mark Meyer, the National Park Service's national VRI lead.
| Step | Who | Result |
|---|---|---|
| a field team | a Scenic Quality Rating |
| an interdisciplinary team | a View Importance Rating |
| — | the view's overall Scenic Inventory Value |
That value, with the other data gathered, goes into Enjoy the View, the Park Service's online database of scenic views.
Spirit Mound, South Dakota. Photo by the National Park Service
The first season
- Spring 2023: several trail employees took their first training with Meyer.
- May 2023: trail staff teamed up with Missouri National Recreational River, a partner park, to inventory sites near the Nebraska–South Dakota line, including Spirit Mound.
Tabor State Lakeside Use Area, South Dakota. Photo by the National Park Service
The plan is to survey every year, building up a record of the trail's views that makes them easier to defend.
Sources
Based on "Visual resource documentation along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail," from the Lewis and Clark Trail 2023 Annual Report, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
In these publicationsLewis & Clark National Historic TrailLewis and Clark Trail 2023 Annual Report
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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