_E-mail this_ (http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art_tips?Site=AE&Date=20050809&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=508090359&Ref=AR&Profile=1014) _Printer-friendly_ (http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/NEWS02/508090359/1 014&template=printpicart) _Subscribe_ (http://cincinnati.com/helpdesk/circulation/subscribe.html) _RSS feeds_ (http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/CUST01/50329008) Daniel Boone reclaims his road in southern Ky. By Mark R. Chellgren Associated Press (http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000706054/mnum=0000171471/genr=1/tkdt=B0P0R1T0/cstr=62658994=_42fbb87c,2505697725,706054^171471_/bnum=62658994 ) FRANKFORT - The controversy that accompanied the decision two years ago to replace the Daniel Boone Parkway name with that of a sitting Kentucky congressman will be laid to rest today. In a private ceremony in his office, Gov. Ernie Fletcher plans to sign documents that designate U.S. 25E in southeastern Kentucky the Daniel Boone-Cumber land Gap Wilderness Trail. "This is a great day, not only for the Boone family, but also for everyone who appreciates the sacrifices and accomplishments of our pioneer ancestors who settled this great commonwealth and this great country," said Rochelle Cochran, president of the Boone Society, a national group of descendants of the explorer. During a previous gubernatorial administration, the Daniel Boone Parkway, which winds through the mountains of southeastern Kentucky, was renamed for U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, who has represented the area for more than two decades and, at the time, had managed to earmark $13 million in federal funds that allowed tolls to be removed from the state road. Rogers, who was not consulted about the name change in 2003, has stayed out of the fray for the most part. The gesture, though, did not sit well with Boone descendants and others who bemoaned the sacrifice of history for a few federal dollars. "You may as well melt down the Liberty Bell," Cochran, who claims to be a long-removed niece of the explorer, said at the time. Since then, several attempts have been made to restore Boone's name to the road or find an alternative. At one point, the late Gov. Louie Nunn offered to have his name taken off a different toll road so Rogers could get the honor. A proposal in the 2004 General Assembly to have the parkway share the names of Boone and Rogers failed. Fletcher's office confirmed the change would take place today but provided no other details. In an e-mail to the Associated Press, Cochran said she planned to attend the signing in Fletcher's office along with at least two other Boone descendants. Boone is the stuff of history and lore in Kentucky, credited with opening the west to exploration by crossing the Cumberland Gap and opening the Wilderness Road. Boone, who lived from 1734 to 1820, has his name on towns, festivals, businesses and even a national forest. U.S. 25E goes from Interstate 75 to the Cumberland Gap tunnel into Tennessee virtually at the point where the two states intersect with Virginia. Coincidentally, the burial place of Daniel and Rebecca Boone at the Frankfort cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the Kentucky Capitol, where the signing ceremony will take place. Publication date: 08-09-2005