Outreach

Kari O’Connell, previously the HJA Forest Director and now the Associate Director at the OSU Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning, shares her reflection:

"One of my fondest memories of the Andrews Forest is the afternoon I hiked on the Watershed 2 trail with Howard Bruner and Robert Michael Pyle, during Robert’s residency (the first writers residency of the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program). In Robert Michael Pyle’s own words,

Roswell Ridge, which burned today, August 25, is a central hub within our wireless network and our webcam network. For years, we have maintained webcams to provide real-time information on conditions at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Viewers can get a sense for current weather, road conditions, or the progression of the seasons. For example, our floodcam points at Lookout Creek and viewers can watch the water in the stream, and the wood in the stream, rise in the winter rains.

Studying forest dynamics takes decades, even centuries. The western Cascade Mountains of Oregon, including the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, harbor centuries-old stands of old-growth forests, which are known for their high biomass, complex structure, and multi-layered forest canopies. In 1971, scientists established multiple permanent sample plots across the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest and elsewhere in the region, largely to study old-growth forest ecosystems. Scientists continue to visit the plots every year.

For the past few days, the Lookout Fire has been burning around one of our remote weather stations, Upper Lookout (UPLMET), and is nearing a second, Central (CENMET). Fortunately, as of the time of this post (August 21), the UPLMET station continues to send useful weather data over our network of radio relays. The first weather stations at HJA were installed to aid research on logging methods starting in 1952. Three more stations were added over time. Today we maintain seven weather stations spread out to capture the environment across the entire research forest.

Rob Mutch, the USFS Fire Lookout stationed on Carpenter Mountain, was on duty on August 5 and was the first to spot the tell-tale waft of smoke from the flank of Lookout Mountain, following the lightning storm on August 5. Rob, who is also a professional photographer, shared photos of the fire a week later, as conditions caused a massive column of smoke. For safety, Rob was moved from his station on Carpenter Mountain and is now assisting other USFS fire lookouts in the area.

Did you ever hike the Lookout Creek Old Growth Trail? John Cissel, then in his role as the Research Liaison with the US Forest Service, conceived and planned the Lookout Creek Old Growth Trail over 30 years ago as a way to connect the HJA with a broader public. John writes, “It took a lot of help from our friends, but we successfully added sections of new trail at each trailhead that connected to an old, unmaintained administrative trail that ran across the slope of lower Lookout Mountain.