4 COLLEGE OF FORESTRY As visitation grows, the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest is creating a shared plan to guide recreation alongside research, education and active forest management. On any given day, the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest may host a mountain biker, a graduate student collecting data, a forest operations intern and a family out for an afternoon walk — sometimes on the same trail system. For many in the Corvallis community, the forest is a favorite destination for exercise, exploration and connection to the outdoors. With more than 200,000 visits annually, the McDonald-Dunn is one of the most heavily used outdoor recreation destinations in the region. But that is only one part of the forest’s story. The McDonald-Dunn serves simultaneously as a living laboratory, an outdoor classroom, a working forest and a recreation destination. Visitors can experience forestry in action while researchers, students and forest managers continue the work of teaching, discovery and stewardship. That overlap is part of what makes the forest unique. It also creates one of its biggest management challenges: How do you intentionally manage visitor use in a forest that was never intended solely for recreation? “Recreation is such an important part of the forest’s identity, but it exists alongside research projects, forest management activities, MANY PATHS, ONE FOREST ecological objectives and operational needs,” said Jenna Baker, recreation manager for the OSU Research Forests. “Balancing the multiple values and uses for the forest requires thoughtful decision-making.” As visitation grows and use patterns change, questions about how the forest can continue to welcome visitors while remaining actively managed have become increasingly important. Those questions prompted the development of a visitor use management plan. Rather than SUHVFULELQJ D ń[HG YLVLRQ IRU WKH IXWXUH WKH document brings together decades of recreation policies, practices and planning into a shared guide for managing recreation within a working research forest. Designed to evolve over time, it helps ensure recreation is considered thoughtfully alongside research, education and forest management. ù$W LWV FRUH WKH HŃRUW LV DVNLQJ ZKDW TXDOLW\ recreation looks like in a working research forest, and how we can be intentional about where UHFUHDWLRQ ńWV LQWR WKH SX]]OH ú VDLG $VKOH\ D’Antonio, a recreation ecologist and associate professor in the College of Forestry, who is providing technical assistance on the project. 2YHU WKH SDVW \HDU IRUHVW VWDŃ DQG FRPPXQLW\ members have helped shape the plan through
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==