McDonald Research Forest
This was taken in the McDonald Research Forest.
This panorama is one of my entries for the World Wide Panorama “20 Years” project, and is a repeat of one take almost seven years ago at the same location. (That earlier VR was incorrectly titled “Peavy Arboretum”. )
The most obvious change is the sign that has been updated to communicate more information. More subtle changes include a number of trees that have been removed. A couple are near the camera, but you’ll have to look closely to see the others.
These changes are a result of the fact that this is a research forest. It is managed by Oregon State University, located in the nearby town of Corvallis. The forests in this area are sometimes used as a lab in which different forest management techniques are used to understand how they work, and how forests work in general. They are also used to teach students and train people involved in forestry-related businesses.
Other locations in the forest, reachable by the network of walking paths, show and explain different types of research activity going on. Some of them involve culling trees as was done here.
This is one of a collection of managed research forests. Most are near the university, like this one, but others are scattered around the state.
In addition to research and teaching, the forests are also available for recreation and a lot of local people make use of the paths. One of the other forests allows for limited hunting.