Join us for the 2026 Annual Field Tour!

Join us for our 2026 Annual Field Tour of the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range and the Meadow Creek Project. This year’s tour, hosted by the Northern Blues Restoration Partnership and Northern Blues Forest Collaborative in partnership with the Starkey and Meadow Creek research and implementation teams, will explore how research, partnerships, and management came together on this project and how we can use it as a model for landscape-scale restoration across public, private, and Tribal lands.

OUR FIELD TOUR GOALS:

• Explore stream and riparian restoration approaches in the Meadow Creek watershed, including planned and completed projects and opportunities for future valley-floor restoration.

• Learn how long-term research at Starkey Experimental Forest and Range is informing restoration and management across grasslands, streams, and upland forests.

• Examine the effects of fuels reduction and forest management on water, First Foods, and sensitive wildlife species.

• Connect partners, practitioners, and researchers in discussion about how science can support future all-lands restoration across the Northern Blues.

Before we go, be sure to check out the Meadow Creek Storymap and two SciCast Webinars on Starkey and Meadow Creek presented by the research and implementation teams for the USFS Research and Development group.

Starkey Experimental Forest and Range: A Century of Research Progress and Applications

Applied research in natural resources provides essential knowledge for effectively managing public, private, and Tribal lands throughout the U.S. At the 25,000-acre Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) in northeast Oregon, applied research has been conducted for nearly 100 years—with results that continue to grow in breadth and depth of applications and benefits to land management and ecosystem services.

In this webinar, we highlight the century of research at Starkey and the key management benefits to national forests, natural resource managers, associated stakeholders, and societal needs for ecosystem services. We describe a knowledge co-production framework in which long-term research has been conducted on a broad range of scientific disciplines and resource topics with a broad range of collaborators and stakeholders.

Meadow Creek as a Model for Evaluating Active Forest, Stream, & Riparian Management for Multiple Use

Tribal First Foods, timber, recreation, grazing, and water are essential components of land management in the western U.S., providing a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic benefits. Restoration of both upland and valley floor environments is an ongoing, multi-billion-dollar investment on public, private, and Tribal lands to sustain these critical ecosystem services.

In this webinar, we highlight a watershed-based restoration plan and supporting research underway in the 116,000-acre Meadow Creek watershed, a tributary to the Grande River in northeast Oregon that is part of the Snake and Columbia River Basins. Meadow Creek includes the 25,000-acre Starkey Experimental Forest and Range, where applied research based on active management has been conducted for nearly 100 years. Past and ongoing research in and around Starkey provides a foundation to the whole-watershed restoration and research.

Meadow Creek Watershed Storymap

This storymap highlights the Meadow Creek Watershed Restoration and Research Collaboration is a multi-agency habitat restoration and enhancement project involving tribal, state, federal, educational and non-profit organizations with expertise in natural resource management, cultural resource protection, data management, public outreach and education.

We will be meeting at the La Grande Ranger District (3502 US-30, La Grande) at 8:00am to convene and load onto buses for the tour. Please bring a sack lunch, water, all terrain/weather gear and footwear and a hard hat (optional). If you are in need of any special accommodations, please indicate them in your registration.