The Research Forest
47 acres of forest, meadows, ponds, and streams, monitored by students year-round.
Ecological Monitoring
The Research Forest
What began as a family conservation project has grown into a student research forest, a place where young people conduct real ecological monitoring and field research alongside ongoing land stewardship.
Since 2020, students have been collecting weekly environmental data at the Bear Creek Wilderness. What started with a single rain gauge has expanded into a network of temperature data loggers, soil sensors, bird monitoring stations, and permanent forest plots scattered across the property. The data is continuous, long-term, and growing, the kind of dataset that becomes more valuable with every passing year.
Permanent Forest Plots
9+ plots (1/30 hectare each) with tagged and measured trees tracked over time.
Precipitation Monitoring
Weekly data shared with CoCoRaHS (station OR-LA-231), continuous since 2020.
Temperature Loggers
HOBO data loggers in Bear Creek, the pond, the stream, and the meadow.
Air & Soil Sensors
Weekly readings using Vernier sensors.
Bird Monitoring
Species tracking using the Merlin app during weekly sit spots.
Wildlife & Water Quality
Trail cameras for mammal surveys. Dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrates, and phosphorus testing at multiple water sites.
The Bear Creek Explorers maintain this infrastructure and collect the data as part of their weekly routine. It’s not a simulation or a classroom exercise. It’s a functioning ecological monitoring program run by 9-to-13-year-olds who take the work seriously.
Live Data
From the Field
The Bear Creek Explorers collect environmental data weekly during the school year. Our monitoring program tracks three core datasets:
Rainfall
Year-to-date cumulative rainfall charted against historical min, average, and max since 2020.
Temperature
Weekly air and soil temperature readings, plus continuous data from HOBO loggers in creek, pond, stream, and meadow.
Bird Species
Running tally of species detected during weekly sit spots using Merlin, with cumulative year-to-date count and full species log.
Data collection began in the 2020–2021 water year. If you’re a researcher, educator, or just curious, feel free to reach out — we’re happy to share our datasets.
The Land
Bear Creek Wilderness
The Bear Creek Wilderness is 47 acres of forest, meadow, streams, and springs near Cheshire, Oregon. This land sits within the territory of the Chelamela (Long Tom) band of the Kalapuya people.
The forest is primarily second-growth Douglas-fir and Ponderosa pine, logged around 1990 and replanted for timber by the previous owners. Today, the land is managed not for production, but for wildlife habitat, native plant communities, and the long-term goal of creating a diverse, structurally complex old-growth forest. Scattered among the conifers are vine maple, red alder, Oregon white oak, chinkapin, hawthorn, yew, bigleaf maple, osoberry, and willow.
Beyond the forest, the land holds wet meadows rich with native camas lily, goldenrod, spirea, swamp lantern, snowberry, trillium, and bleeding heart. A spring-fed pond, a class-1 year-round stream (Bear Creek), and many small springs feed the water systems that run through the property.
This is a wild place. There is no electricity, no running water, and limited shelter: a small shed and a hand-built village of tarps and fire pits that the Bear Creek Explorers have constructed over the years. A visit here means bringing everything you need, just as if you were heading into the backcountry.
Land Management
Stewardship & Vision
The land was logged around 1990 by the previous owners and replanted for timber production. An abundance of Douglas-fir, planted close together, growing fast and competing for light.
Today, this forest is managed with a different goal: not production, but the long-term development of a diverse, structurally complex old-growth forest. That’s a multi-generational project. Old-growth doesn’t happen in a lifetime. But every year the forest moves a little closer.
The work includes variable-density thinning to create structural diversity, gap creation to let light reach the forest floor, protection and enhancement of hardwood species, invasive plant management, and careful attention to the streams, springs, and wet meadows that run through the property. When trees are harvested, it’s to make space for diversity, not for commercial production.
The replanting vision goes beyond Douglas-fir: western red cedar, bigleaf maple, Pacific yew, grand fir, and Oregon white oak are all part of the future forest. Legacy trees and large woody debris are retained for habitat. Creek buffers are maintained and expanded.
This stewardship isn’t separate from the education that happens here. It’s inseparable from it. The Bear Creek Explorers participate in the land management directly. They help with thinning decisions, clear trails, fight invasive weeds, and build habitat structures. They understand that caring for this land is part of using it. That’s the model: a working forest that teaches while it grows.
Student Research
Forest Science Projects
Each year, Bear Creek Explorers and visiting researchers design and carry out original field research at the Bear Creek Wilderness. These projects range from semester-long investigations to multi-year studies. Students develop research questions, collect data, analyze results, and document their findings.
Soil Science
Terran · Diack Grant Recipient
Studying soil moisture, temperature, and texture across forest and meadow plots. Designed a sampling protocol using random number generators to select sites, including soil texture analysis via the jar settling method.
Lichen Survey
Simon
Systematic collection and identification of ground lichen species within permanent forest plots, using microscopy for detailed documentation. Building a baseline inventory of lichen diversity at Bear Creek.
Tree Growth Monitoring
Annabella
Tagging, measuring, and verifying tree data across permanent plots. Identified measurement errors, assigned re-measurement tasks, and building a long-term dataset tracking forest growth over decades.
Herpetofauna Monitoring
Ruani
Surveying reptile and amphibian populations using artificial cover objects placed systematically in research plots — half on undisturbed forest floor, half on cleared ground.
Wildlife Camera Study
BCE Team · Multi-year
Motion-triggered trail cameras documenting mammal activity. Species include cougar, bobcat, fox, deer, opossum, and numerous small mammals. Discovery: main camp had highest activity and greatest diversity.
Meadow Restoration
Gabriel · Multi-year
Controlling invasive meadow knapweed and enhancing native plant diversity. Comparing treatment methods and monitoring long-term results for camas, goldenrod, king gentian, and Douglas spirea.
Get Involved
For Researchers & Educators
The Bear Creek Wilderness is available for collaborative research and educational partnerships. We have a growing inventory of scientific equipment and an established infrastructure of permanent plots, data loggers, and long-term datasets.
Available Equipment
Trail cameras, Vernier dissolved oxygen and CO₂ sensors, soil moisture and temperature probes, HOBO data loggers, a digital microscope, aquatic D-nets, diameter tapes, pH sensors, and 1-meter plot squares.
High school students interested in field research are welcome to propose projects. Past students have earned credit for their work. Projects can range from a single-semester investigation to a year-long study, and we can help with research design, equipment, and mentorship. Funding may be available through the Diack Ecology Education Program for projects that require new equipment.
If you’re an educator, researcher, or student interested in working at Bear Creek, please reach out.
Get in Touch