NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Major renovation of Oregon Trail Interpretive Center starts soon
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — The biggest
project at the Oregon Trail Interpre-
tive Center near Baker City since it
opened almost 30 years ago begins
March 2.
The $6.5 million makeover is
designed to turn the center, which has
attracted almost 2.4 million visitors,
from an energy hog to a building with
a more modest appetite for electricity.
Achieving that will entail much
more than cosmetic work.
The Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, the federal agency that oper-
ates the center on Flagstaff Hill about
5 miles east of Baker City, has hired
Hess Contracting of Preston, Idaho,
to replace most items attached to its
frame.
That includes installing new
cement board siding, insulation, roof-
ing, windows and doors.
The contractor also will replace
the heating and cooling system for
the all-electric building.
The Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center, which has been closed since
November 2020 due to the pandemic
— work started in October 2021 to
remove exhibits and other items in
preparation for the project — will
remain closed during the remodeling.
The upgrades are slated to be
finished in the spring of 2023, but
the center will stay closed for several
more months while exhibits and
fixtures are reinstalled.
That’s a shorter duration than
BLM originally expected, said Larisa
Bogardus, public affairs officer for
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald, File
The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City has had more than 2 million visitors since it opened May 23,
1992. The center is getting a $6.5 million makeover starting March 2, 2022.
the BLM’s Vale District.
Initially the agency expected the
remodeling would take more than 2
years.
The impetus for the project was
a nationwide survey comparing the
energy efficiency of BLM buildings,
Bogardus said in 2021.
That survey, which included
an inspection of the center in May
2018, earned the center the “dubious
distinction” of being the agency’s
least efficient building, Bogardus
said.
Among the findings is that the
center’s “Energy Use Intensity” — a
measure of its inefficiency — was 170
kilo-British thermal units per square
foot. The average for BLM facilities
is 84, according to the survey.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
The center when operating had a
monthly power bill averaging about
$10,000.
The remodel is estimated to
reduce the center’s energy use by
73%, according to a press release
from the Vale District.
“We want to be good stewards
of our natural resources,” said Vale
District Manager Wayne Monger,
Oregon wildfire coverage might
look different next fire season
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
Partly sunny and
chilly
A morning rain or
snow shower
Cloudy, a shower
in the p.m.
Cloudy, a shower
or two; mild
Cloudy; cooler in
the afternoon
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
40° 26°
51° 38°
58° 52°
63° 43°
64° 35°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
41° 27°
51° 33°
55° 45°
66° 44°
OREGON FORECAST
61° 40°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
44/42
37/27
37/26
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
37/27
Lewiston
45/40
40/27
Astoria
48/44
Pullman
Yakima 37/26
44/40
44/28
Portland
Hermiston
48/41
The Dalles 41/27
Salem
Corvallis
47/40
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
35/28
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
51/44
53/39
44/30
Ontario
40/23
Caldwell
Burns
40°
10°
53°
30°
73° (1986) -2° (1993)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
47/41
0.00"
0.07"
0.78"
1.00"
1.08"
1.92"
WINDS (in mph)
42/23
37/22
0.00"
0.75"
1.03"
2.28"
2.99"
2.57"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 37/21
47/42
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
40/26
42/32
32°
7°
50°
31°
68° (1932) 6° (2011)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
45/38
Aberdeen
35/25
32/26
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
47/39
Today
Medford
55/39
Sun.
NE 4-8
E 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
SW 4-8
SSW 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
50/30
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:39 a.m.
5:38 p.m.
4:27 a.m.
12:42 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
Mar 2
Mar 10
Mar 17
Mar 24
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 90° in Plant City, Fla. Low -42° in Celina, Minn.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
EASTERN OREGON —
News coverage of Oregon
wildfires might look a lot
different next fire season.
House Bill 4087, which
would allow news media
professionals to enter the scene
of wildfires and natural disas-
ters, passed the House 48-4
on Feb. 17, marking a turning
point in wildfire coverage that
will allow Oregon journalists
to document wildfires similar
to the way California journal-
ists have for years.
“My aye vote was represen-
tative of transparency,” said
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner.
“I think we need to make sure
the media has access to those
types of generational situa-
tions, both for informing the
public as to what’s going on in
their state, and also to capture
history. For me, it’s a pretty
simple aye vote.”
Previously, news and media
organizations often have
had to rely on press releases
and submitted photos from
government agencies. Often,
coverage would come in the
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals
postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Copyright © 2022, EO Media Group
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high low
COLLEGE PLACE —
College Place police Feb. 19
arrested a Walla Walla man
for robbery while he was out
of jail awaiting trial on charges
of stealing a vehicle from his
mother.
Police arrested Raul Melgar
Moreno, 23, for second-degree
burglary, third-degree theft
and obstructing a law enforce-
ment officer, according to a
College Place Police Depart-
ment release, in connection
to attempting to steal more
than $500 from the Hop Thief
Taphouse, College Place.
At about 4:40 a.m. Feb. 19,
officers responded to an alarm
at the Hop Thief Taphouse on
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
Southeast Sydnee Lane. When
they arrived, they saw a man
step outside the building and
then hurry back inside after
spotting the officers, accord-
ing to the release.
A call to the business
owner verified no one should
be in the building. After form-
ing a perimeter around the
building — with the assistance
of the Walla Walla Police
Department and the Walla
Walla County Sheriff’s Office
— officers began calling for
the man to leave the building.
According to the release,
when the man refused to leave,
police used a police dog to find
the man hiding under a table.
Melgar Moreno was on
pretrial release for an unre-
lated Feb. 4 case where he’s
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Local home
delivery
Savings
(cover price)
$10.75/month
50 percent
52 weeks
$135
42 percent
26 weeks
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39 percent
13 weeks
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36 percent
EZPay
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
escort, and we went in their
vehicle, and they took us to
all the areas of the fire that
they deem safe to have us in,”
Lonergan said. “And we ran
into some issues with that.
We never made it to any spot
where there was active fire-
fighting. The only access
we’re given was to the periph-
erals. They drove us around
and we never saw a crew on
a fire line over there. In one
case, they drove us to where
some hot shots were staging,
but they had already left, so the
access we were given was very
restricted.”
Media personnel would be
required to provide their own
personal protective equip-
ment, such as fireproof cloth-
ing and breathing equipment,
and would be expected to
complete the same basic wild-
fire fighting training that fire-
fighters go through. The law
only would apply to public
land.
The Senate Committee
On Veterans and Emergency
Preparedness on Thursday,
Feb. 24, voted 5-0 on a recom-
mendation for the Senate to
pass the bill.
facing charges of second-de-
gree robbery, vehicle theft,
fourth-degree assault, stolen
vehicle possession and
attempting to elude a police
vehicle.
According to the probable
cause for arrest affidavit in that
case, Melgar Moreno’s mother
told police her son entered her
room and said he was going to
take the car. She said she told
him not to. She told police he
shoved her onto her bed and
took the keys out of her purse.
He was released on his own
recognizance Feb. 9.
According to the Walla
Walla County Jail roster,
he was in jail for his new
charges as of Feb. 22. Bail
has been set at $25,000 bond
or $2,500 cash.
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form of photos of road closures
and barricades, or from distant
landscapes of the hellish glow
from a wildfire. A prior bill
that would have changed the
laws regarding wildfire access
died in committee during the
2021 session.
The language of the bill
gives incident commanders
the final discretion to bar news
media from access to wildfires
or natural disasters, as well
as the ability to deny access
to fires without an escort. If
granted access, it is at their
own risk and without promise
of rescue.
That media escort, at
times, can prove a hindrance
to getting the stories from the
front lines of the fire.
East Oregonian photojour-
nalist and visuals editor Ben
Lonergan knows from first-
hand experience how public
information officers can err on
the side of caution and prevent
those front-line stories from
being told. In the summer
of 2021, Lonergan was on
assignment to get photos of the
Elbow Creek Fire in Wallowa
County.
“On that fire, I had an
College Place police arrest man for
robbery while he was awaiting trial
By JEREMY BURNHAM
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
-10s
whose office oversees the center.
“This design utilizes high ther-
mal insulation value materials and
high efficiency heating and cool-
ing technology to counter summer
and winter energy demands of the
site.”
Approximately 16% of the proj-
ect is funded through the Great
American Outdoors Act, which
allocates up to $1.9 billion annually
for maintenance and improvements
to critical facilities and infrastruc-
ture in national parks, forests, wild-
life refuges, recreation areas and
Tribal schools.
During the extended closure, a
new exhibit at the Baker Heritage
Museum in Baker City, sched-
uled to open in May, will serve as
an Oregon Trail Experience, with
BLM park rangers on site to provide
interpretive programs.
A series of living history demon-
strations and other events will take
place across Grove Street from the
Heritage Museum at Geiser-Poll-
man Park.
“We recognize the important
role the center plays in telling the
history of Eastern Oregon and the
settlement of the Pacific North-
west,” Monger said.
Although the center itself will
remain closed, the access road will
be open to allow visitors to get to
the network of paved and unpaved
trails on Flagstaff Hill, which lead
to Oregon Trail ruts.
For more information and to
learn more about the Oregon Trail,
visit oregontrail.blm.gov or call
541-523-1843.
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