BLM moves Baker field office to Interpretive Center, updates mining, grazing and racing plans

Sarah Sherman, field manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s Baker Field Office, told the Baker County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 6 that the office closed its lease on H Street and relocated to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center at 22267 Oregon Highway 86.
Sherman said the BLM can no longer disburse Good Neighbor Authority weed-program funds while required audits are outstanding; the authority is expected to expire later in August absent completed audits. She urged counties to continue applying once audits are complete.
Sherman and Bobby Reese, acting monument manager for the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, gave other updates: the BLM is reviewing operator plans for a November bar‑to‑bar motocross race near Birchy Flat and will issue a temporary closure for a two‑day event if approved; Idaho Power will begin local construction for the Hemingway project, which may produce temporary “no access” signs for construction zones; and the interpretive center reports roughly 16,000–20,000 visitors this year following renovations.
Sherman said the agency is completing environmental analyses on multiple mining plans of operation, including the Hidden Nugget and Denton projects in Baker County and a larger Reed’s Gulch proposal (about 400 acres) near Pine Creek; she expected reviews to be finished in September. She also said grazing allotments closed after large fires would remain rested for at least two years, with invasive-weed treatment and reseeding underway. Operators have asked about grass-bank options and nonuse allotment availability; Sherman said most nonuse requests are now resolved but a few remain because of steep slopes.
Ending: Sherman asked county staff to notify the BLM when required audits are complete so funding can resume, and Reese said the interpretive center plans expanded programming for the agency’s 250th-anniversary activities in 2026. No formal county action was taken at the meeting.