Oregon State Parks welcomes its 17th Friends Group when it signed a cooperative services agreement with the Friends of Bates State Park!

Though the opening of the northeastern Oregon park is still two to three years in the future the Friends will be included in framing a master plan for the development and management of the property, which is in Grant County just north of the Oregon Highway 7-U.S. Highway 26 intersection at Austin Junction.

The Friends group is comprised of local area citizens and others interested in preserving the site of the abandoned Bates lumber mill and company town, the new friends' group traces its origin to the non-profit Bates Foundation formed in the early 1980s.

The property will be closed to public access until OPRD finishes safety and archaeological evaluations and pursues cleanup efforts. The department is considering the safety risks of preserving a dry kiln, the only major remnant of the Bates Mill.