The Bear Creek Wilderness
The Bear Creek Wilderness is a 47-acre land bordering Bear Creek near Chesire, Oregon. What we call the Bear Creek Wilderness sits within the territory of the Chelamela (Long Tom) band of the Kalapuya people. This natural area contains a mid-seral forest, wet meadows, a small pond, a class-1 stream, and many small year-round springs. The site contains an abundance of native plants such as camas lily, goldenrod, spirea, swamp lantern, snowberry, trillium, bleeding heart, salal, ferns and many others. The forest is primarily Douglas-fir and Ponderosa pine with a smattering of vine maple, red alder, Oregon white oak, chinkapin, hawthorn, yew, bigleaf maple, osoberry, and willow.
The land was logged around 1990 by the previous owners and replanted for timber. However, the current owners are managing primarily for wildlife habitat and native plants with the long-term goal of creating a diverse, structurally complex old-growth forest.
Although the original intent was to protect this land from development and enhance and maintain native ecosystems, it is now the hope that the Bear Creek Wilderness can be both protected as a natural area and shared with other people, especially kids. The seeds have been planted for long-term climate monitoring, with the shared goals of data collection and student learning.
Because the forest contains an abundance of replanted timber, harvesting wood for shelter building, fire, and other projects is mutually beneficial for supporting outdoor activities and creating gaps and openings within the forest.
This natural area has limited amenities, with no electricity or running water. There is a small shed for storage and parking for three cars during the wet season. A visit to the Bear Creek Wilderness means bringing your own supplies just as if you were heading out on an adventure in the great outdoors.
