In 1994, the Camp Creek Paired Watershed Study was initiated to provide long-term, verifiable data that would be collected systematically to test the hypothesis, “Does the removal of western juniper change the hydrologic function of a watershed?" This study occurred in 2 adjacent watersheds of about 260 acres each, Mays and Jensen, located about 60 miles southeast of Prineville, Oregon. Approximately 20% of the total study area is in private ownership with the remainder under the management of the Prineville District, Bureau of Land Management. In October 2005, following 11 years of monitoring various parameters (vegetation, groundwater, spring flow, soil moisture, etc.), all “post-European aged trees” (those less than 140 years old) were cut in the Mays watershed. The trees in Jensen were left uncut; thus, Jensen became the “control” watershed.
In October 2022, the OWEB Board funded an open solicitation monitoring grant for OSU to meet the needs to maintain this long-term watershed-scale monitoring effort. At 20 years post-treatment, partners are at a critical time to improve the understanding of the expected longevity of the treatment and identify critical thresholds that warrant discussing adaptive management strategies to maintain the health of restored ecosystems. This recently funded project aims to assess the long-term effectiveness of juniper stand reduction on soil, water, and vegetation variables in the treated areas compared to the untreated. Funding will also help to replace failing equipment and install an enhanced sensor network to continue monitoring the hydrological response to juniper removal. The main partners for this project are the OSU Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Crook County, BLM-Prineville District, Hatfield Hyde Land Trust, and OSU-Extension.