Plans & Progress
The Field Center at Fossil:
The Oregon Paleo Lands Institute’s new home.
Grand Opening and Dedication Ceremony
Saturday September 12th, noon - 4 p.m.
The Field Center will achieve our mission to protect, promote, and educate about Oregon’s ancient and living landscapes through these hands-on, regionally-based exhibits. It will complement the John Day Fossil Beds’ new Thomas Condon Paleontology Center by providing regional information not present in—but related to—this and other regional centers. We will engage schools across Oregon in developing, designing, and building our exhibits, making it a truly educational facility for all Oregonians.
WHAT THE FIELD CENTER WILL INCLUDE: The displays and exhibits in the Field Center at Fossil will provide hands-on informative learning opportunities that are fun as well as educational.
Our principal contents:
ASSEMBLING OREGON: How did Oregon’s landscapes form over the past 400-million years? How do present processes shape the landscape, and effect our lives? Where are the major faults, and other hazards?
OREGON’S MOST ANCIENT ECOSYSTEMS: The Thomas Condon Paleontology Center elegantly portrays life in Oregon 7 to 50 million years ago. Our OPLI Field Center will show the creatures and ecosystems of the REST of Oregon’s history, 50 to 400 million years ago, and the Ice Age. Look for a full-size plesiosaur, a full-size ichthyosaur, a Columbian mammoth, and a dire wolf in our center.
ANCIENT CLIMATES, MODERN CHANGES: What caused ancient climates to change? What’s the evidence here in the John Day basin? Why was this a greenhouse world 55 million years ago? Why did 90% of life die some 250 million years ago? What ‘s happening to the climate now? What will Oregon be like in the future? What can we learn from climate-changes of the past?
JOHN DAY BASIN LANDSCAPES TODAY: What plants and wildlife live in the John Day Basin today? Where can you hike? Raft? Find the Dalles Military Road? Where can you find fuel? Food? Lodging? A guide for visitors and residents alike.
The Facility
The Field Center will be a destination site for visitors to Wheeler County and the John Day River Basin. In addition to indoor and outdoor exhibits, the Field Center will serve as a Travel Center providing maps, books and information on local and natural history. Future landscaping plans include a native plant garden, outdoor education area and sculptures.
YES!
I would like to support the Field Center at Fossil. Please contact me with information about a contribution to project completion!
