<html><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><META name="Author" content="Novell GroupWise WebAccess"></head><body style='font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; '>The Oregon Heritage Commission is recommending that individuals,<br>businesses and organizations re-vitalize Oregon heritage resources by<br>focusing on four goals. The recommendations were announced today after<br>the Commission completed an 18-month-long study to determine the common<br>challenges facing hundreds of heritage organizations in Oregon.<br><br>“Oregon’s heritage is at risk from both external and internal<br>challenges,” says Commission chair George Kramer. “Some are<br>statewide and nationwide in nature, while others are found in<br>communities and organizations. No single solution, not even money, will<br>solve all of these challenges.”<br><br>The Heritage Commission’s first recommendation is to request the 2011<br>Legislature to appoint an interim task force to examine the issues<br>facing city, county and state heritage organizations and to recommend<br>solutions for them.<br><br>“The commissioners thank Rep. Peter Buckley for introducing HB 3210<br>to initiate the Oregon Heritage Vitality Task Force,” said Kramer.<br>“The Commission sees the task force as a key step toward solving<br>the number one heritage issue in the state: the challenge of stable<br>funding, both public and private.”<br><br>The Heritage Commission also set three other goals in its report:<br>-- Determine the economic and cultural value of heritage in Oregon,<br>including its direct and secondary effects. The Commission’s report<br>says there are indications the amounts from building restoration and<br>renovation, tourism and other heritage economic sectors is significant,<br>but totals have never been compiled.<br>-- Strategically communicate consistent information about the value<br>and importance of heritage to the economy and daily lives of<br>Oregonians.<br>-- Increase the capacity of heritage organizations and businesses to<br>collaboratively expand their leadership, development, preservation,<br>community-building, communications, educational offerings and<br>technology.<br><br>The Commission was established in 1995 to assure the conservation,<br>development and coordination of Oregon’s heritage. Nine members are<br>appointed by the Governor, with ex-officio members representing the<br>Oregon Historical Society and seven state agencies.<br><br>The Commission initiated its statewide analysis of Oregon’s heritage<br>organizations and service models in late 2009, the state’s<br>sesquicentennial year. Commissioners were concerned that the Oregon<br>Historical Society, End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in<br>Oregon City, the Southern Oregon Historical Society and other high<br>profile heritage organizations were facing struggles that threatened<br>their continued operation.<br><br>The Commission’s recently released Oregon Heritage Vitality Report is<br>precedent-setting in that it looks at Oregon heritage comprehensively,<br>with the greatest emphasis on museums, historic preservation, historic<br>cemeteries, historical societies, local heritage efforts, archives and<br>archaeology. The report is available at<br><a class="weblink" href="http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OHC/vitality.shtml" target="browserView">http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OHC/vitality.shtml</a> <br><br>For more information, contact Commission coordinator Kyle Jansson at<br>503-986-0673 or heritage.info@state.or.us </body></html>