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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)
LOCAL A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 Oregon Trail advocates lobby for preservation of ruts on depot By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR As the Columbia Devel- opment Authority and U.S. Army work toward trans- ferring the former Umatilla Chemical Depot to local control, Oregon Trail enthu- siasts are unhappy with a deal worked out for preserv- ing the sections of Oregon Trail that run through the depot. Walla Walla historian Daniel Clark, trail advocate Sam Pambrun of Pendle- ton and Wendell Baskins of the Oregon Historic Trails Advisory Council and Ore- gon-California Trails Asso- ciation gave testimony at a meeting of the CDA board on Thursday afternoon. They asked the board to pre- serve more of the trail than planned and to place a cov- enant on the property that would bind any future own- ers of the property to the agreement in perpetuity. “While the trail advo- cates would like to preserve the entire trails through the depot, they are willing to discuss with you the desig- nation of practical excep- tions. ... What trail advo- cates are unwilling to accept, which is their bottom line, is the transfer of the depot lands without a necessary protective covenant for this common heritage of ours,” Clark said, reading from a pre-written statement. While people think of the Oregon Trail as a single line, pioneers actually split into multiple routes through Ore- gon. A roughly 3½ mile trail runs through the northern part of the depot, while an approximately 5-mile sec- tion of ruts runs to the south. Pambrun said evidence indi- cates the trails date back to at least the 1840s, and the northern trail is the older of the two routes. Under a deal worked out between the CDA — a part- nership between Umatilla County, Morrow County, Port of Morrow, Port of Contributed photo Oregon Trail ruts filled with snow can be seen on the former Umatilla Chemical Depot. Umatilla and Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — and the CTUIR, the northern trail would be preserved as part of the 5,676-acre wild- life preserve the CTUIR will manage. The southern portion runs through a National Guard training facility and por- tions of industrially zoned land that will be transferred to the CDA for industrial development. To mitigate for portions of the trail that would likely be destroyed by the development, the CDA plans to complete aerial documentation of the ruts and to preserve a 200- yard section, complete with educational kiosks and pic- nic tables for the public to visit and see the ruts for themselves. Not all Oregon Trail ruts are the same, Pambrun said. Different routes were in use during different time peri- ods and by different num- bers of people. Some ruts are better preserved than others, and in longer sec- tions. Sometimes previ- ous assessments have been incorrect, such as a map that marked where the Army had installed a telex line instead of the actual trail. An expert still needs to look at the big questions, he told the CDA, which are where the two trails on the depot property are coming from and going to. “I really don’t think we know enough about this,” he said. Don Russell, chair of the CDA board, said some peo- ple believe that enough of the Oregon Trail has already been preserved and others believe that everything left should remain untouched forever. “Somewhere between there’s a happy medium,” he said. He said the CDA, Army and tribes had worked to come up with a solution that would protect portions of the trail but also balance the need for economic growth. Companies have expressed interest in major developments on the prop- erty that would boost both counties’ tax rolls and bring hundreds of new jobs to the area. CDA director Greg Smith said they hoped once the land was transferred to the CDA that they could con- HIGH SPEED INTERNET Pay one price for two great services: high-speed Internet and a full-featured home phone Bundle and save today Simply Broadband Max BROADBAND ULTRA + PHONE + SECURE 19 67 97 99 Get Connected for as low as 855-972-6641 Get Connected for as low as 14.95/mo. 12 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 2 Year Price Lock Protect Your Identity, Devices & Files 6 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 1 Year Price Lock Call today and pay less Enjoy big-time Internet speeds without spending big bucks! Per Month Per Month With Qualifying Phone Service $ 49.99/mo. 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The board has been work- ing on preliminary designs, and soon will open a 30-day public hearing period on using a design-build pro- cess, after which they will put out a request for pro- posals. Nevil said there will likely be an event to show- case designs to the public before the project is built. The chamber purchased a 2.4-acre parcel on the southeast corner of High- way 395 and East Evelyn Avenue, across from New Hope Church, in early 2019 to build new headquarters. They have been temporar- ily renting office space in the Cornerstone Plaza since January 2018, after the city of Hermiston did not renew the chamber’s contract to run the Hermiston Commu- nity Center. The legislature ear- marked $1 million for the project in 2018, and Nevil said the chamber plans to launch a fundraising effort through a foundation that will help not only promote the fundraising opportuni- ties for the new building, but also work toward the “longterm success of the chamber.” EARTHLINK INTERNET Save with Frontier Internet Bundles Serious speed! tinue to have conversations with partners on preserva- tion and mitigation while still allowing for devel- opment on “key” indus- trial land the southern trail crosses. Baskins, speaking for the trail organizations he was a member of, said that “in a perfect world we would save them all, but both organizations under- stand the need to allow eco- nomic development to hap- pen.” However, he said they needed to make sure they saved “significant” portions with a covenant that would make sure their children and grandchildren would still have access to the trail even after the CDA sold land to developers. CDA board member Kim Puzey said he felt uncom- fortable making any perma- nently binding decision that would bind “our descen- dants,” not knowing what the future may hold. Clark stated that such a covenant was circulated in draft form in 2018 for com- ment, but it was his under- standing that Smith brought the process to a halt by rejecting a proposal that the group Restore Oregon be responsible for monitoring and enforcing the covenant. “Instead of exploring other proposals for a mon- itoring party, the Army then without consultation declared that the land would be transferred without a covenant,” he said. “This is clearly unacceptable to the parties representing historic trail interests, also fails to protect the cultural values of the tribes, and we believe is subject to legal challenge.” He said a different orga- nization, the Archeological Conservancy, had offered to do the monitoring instead at no charge. He asked if the Army would use them instead. Ed Orloski of the Army’s Base Realignment and Closure office responded that he couldn’t speak for whether the Army could change course based on that, but they couldn’t con- sider the idea without a writ- ten proposal outlining all the details. Clark said they could send one. Peace and quiet and peace of mind. For nearly a century, HomeStreet Bank has earned a true blue reputation for honest answers and doing right by people, in addition to a variety of great loan options. If you’ve got a new home in your sights, I can help make homeownership a reality. Give me a call today to get started! Kara Berglund Loan Officer Clackamas Home Loan Center Kara.Berglund@homestreet.com 503-652-5012 NMLS ID# 716319 All loans subject to approval.
