Written by Janelle Wicks, FOMR Executive Director
Even before we were Friends of Malheur and our Mission was formally established in the text it is today, we have been committed to outreach and education to connect our community and the visiting public to the importance of the Harney Basin to migratory birds. We have also always been keenly aware that strong and healthy partnerships are the best way to get things done!
Establishing an interpretive wayside along Highway 205 just south of the entrance to the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Resource Center is a great example of these things coming together. It may come across as a simple story now, but coordinating the site development, designing, fabricating and installing the panels would have been complicated work for the people involved back in 2007. Please enjoy this article written by former Board Member, Patty Bowers.
Pictured to the left is what the signs look like today. Seventeen years of sunshine has done a number on them. Fortunately, interpretive sign materials have come a long way and while these are old and in need of an upgrade there is no better time and now to consider the value of this project. Redesigning and producing updated signs will be a much simpler task than the initial design and development of the wayside.
FOMR considers projects like this to be an important component of our mission and a reflection of our organizational values. While we do have a lot on our plate this year, I can see this project as a possibility for the near future. I can even see our modern partnerships with HC Migratory Bird Festival and Bird Alliance of Oregon being interested in co-sponsoring the next iteration of these Highway 205 interpretive signs.
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