This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System, which includes the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail. The trail stretches 3,700 miles from Wood River, Illinois to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon and stands as one of only two national historic trails that passes through Iowa.
On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Neal Bedlan, Chief of Interpretation of the Lewis and Clark Trail, and Keith Bystrom, an Iowan who traveled the trail for 55 days after retiring from Iowa State.
Also in the hour, a look at what it takes for rural communities in Iowa to improve quality of life in the face of population loss. Nebbe sits down with Iowa State researchers Sara Hamideh and Kimberly Zarecor to learn more about their reserach into "smart shrinking" communities.
