From the Thursday, May 17, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

(This is a follow-up to our posting last Tuesday. Ben Long is a well-known environmental writer from Kalispell.)

The latest and last chapter in the story of Ben Long’s popular book has, much to the author’s surprise and delight, a very happy ending.

“It won’t be destroyed,” Long said of his book. “We’ve negotiated a solution.”

Long’s award-winning book, published in hardcover and to critical acclaim in 2000, tells the story of the Lewis and Clark trail. It’s a story of America’s natural history, of what was, of what’s been lost and of what yet remains.
But a couple years back, when his publisher printed a soft-cover edition of “Backtracking: By Foot, Canoe and Subaru Along the Lewis and Clark Trail,” the cover art was changed to include a portion of the famous Corps of Discovery image, a silhouette of the explorers pointing off into the distance.

It’s an iconic image, immediately recognizable. It’s appeared on road signs for some 40 years. And since 1999 it’s been owned and protected by the National Park Service.

Read the entire article . . .