January 8, 2008, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resourses.
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Indiana Department
of Natural Resources to include in its budget the necessary funds to
help finance the expansion of the Falls of the Ohio State Park
Interpretive Center.
Whereas, One of the great wonders of the natural world
exists at the Falls of the Ohio;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio stands as proof that an
ocean and coral reef existed more than 350 million years ago
in Clark County;
Whereas, Today the coral reef stretches from Louisville to
Indianapolis, exposed only at the Falls of the Ohio and a few
limestone quarries in Indiana;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio is the only place in the
world where such a large, exposed fossil reef of this period
exists;
Whereas, More than 220 acres of exposed, Devonian age
fossil beds make up the Falls of the Ohio, the site of the Falls
of the Ohio State Park;
Whereas, In 1966, the National Park Service designated the
Falls of the Ohio as a National Natural Landmark;
Whereas, In addition to the great natural wonder that exists at the Falls of the Ohio, it is also the place where, in October 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first came together to plan and prepare for their expedition west;
Whereas, On July 13, 2001, the National Park Service
certified the Falls of the Ohio State Park as an official Lewis
and Clark site associated with the Lewis and Clark National
Historic Trail;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio Foundation began in 1987
to promote, protect, and educate people about the Falls of
the Ohio;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio Foundation led a campaign
to raise money to build the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive
Center;
Whereas, The $6.9 million Falls of the Ohio Interpretive
Center was opened in 1994;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio Foundation donated the
Interpretive Center to the Indiana Department of Natural
Resources;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center is in
need of expansion and remodeling;
Whereas, The Falls of the Ohio Foundation has begun a
new campaign to raise money to expand and remodel the
Interpretive Center;
Whereas, The members of the Natural Resources Study
Committee have considered and adopted this resolution; and
Whereas, Through the efforts of park staff and the Falls of
the Ohio Interpretive Center, Hoosiers and visitors to our
state will have the opportunity to view one of the great
natural wonders of the world and to become more aware of
the historical events that took place in the area that is now
the Falls of the Ohio State Park: Therefore,