Document text
Photo by Paul Fattig OSU professor John Buckhouse discusses the relationship between soil and water during the annual Jackson County Forest and Range Day Camp. Water and soil: A delicate balance Professor gives summer campers a hands-on lesson (including wading) By PAUL FATTIG The lesson for the day, Professor John Buckhouse told his students, is to understand the relationship between soil and water. With that, the distinguished professor at Oregon State University took off his shoes, rolled up his pants and waded into the classroom filled with young students at the weeklong Jackson County Forest and Range Day Camp. "We want it to be in balance," Buckhouse told them. "If the water is winning, then it's eroding. If it's going the other way, we're getting sediment." Morgan Pratt, 9, of Eagle Point, her arms coated with mud as dark as licorice, figured she understood the necessary balance. "If we don't have soil, we won't have plants," she said. "And if we don't have water, the plants won't grow." Thursday found the youngsters at Lily Glen Campground about 15 miles east of Ashland where they studied range ecology in the small stream flowing into the nearby mountain meadow. The ninth annual camp, which drew more than 50 youngsters, mostly ages 9 to 12, included working on riparian restoration, watching horse logging, studying fire prevention, visiting a portable sawmill, going to a forest nursery and a feed processing plant, visiting a fire lookout and planting trees. "The idea is to give them varied experiences so they can get a better idea of the environment they live in," explained Allan Campbell, OSU Extension Service forester in Jackson County. "This is about stewardship and leadership, and how to be good stewards of the resources we have." The camp, which ends today, is a cooperative effort among the Extension Service and other agencies. Although Buckhouse, a hydrologist at OSU, has been teaching adults at the university level for nearly 30 years, he was having fun Thursday. "If they've learned nothing else, that soil and water are tied together in some sort of balance, then we've made some progress," Buckhouse said. "And if we can do it in a fun setting like this, all the better," he added. "Trying to get a group of 10-year-olds to sit down and listen to a lecture is almost impossible. This is a wonderful way to have fun and learn something." Morgan appeared to agree. "I'm learning that mud is a good thing to put on you," she said. "Mud is nice and warm." Her friend, Teddy Hilling, 9, of Medford, was also learning how water and soil mixed. She was juggling a huge mud ball in both hands. "This is real fun," Teddy said. "Yeah, life doesn't get any better than that," Buckhouse observed, causing the girls to giggle. Forrest Kautz, an OSU grad student majoring in range land resources, spent his morning trying to show the youngsters the method of calculating how fast the stream was moving. "What we're going to do is try to measure the area, then see how fast it's going," he told his young charges. They measured off 30 feet, then dropped in an orange upstream to test the flow. The orange promptly dropped to the bottom and bounced along. "Holy cow!" one youngster yelled to no one in particular. "I think we may have a buoyancy problem," Buckhouse observed as the orange slowly rolled across the imaginary finish line in 40 seconds. But the next orange floated a little higher, coming in at 30 seconds. "We've got one foot per second," Kautz told the youngsters. Chris Matthews, 11, of Medford, stripped down to his jeans to wade in the cold creek, stood with his teeth chattering in the weak June sun. "Tttthhhiisss is funnnn," he said, "but ttthe waterrrr is soooo cold." At a nearby picnic table, Susan Bashans, a woods crew leader with the Rogue Institute, was working with another group of students making bookmarks. "The kids need to be educated about the things that can be done out in the woods," she said, adding, "And we hope this will also encourage them to read." Second-year summer camper Brandon Reagis, 11, of Central Point, stuck a black feather in his bookmark. "I thought it would be neat to put a feather on it," he said. "I like to read. I finished `Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' last night." But Brandon, who had a pair of binoculars dangling around his neck, also likes getting outside. "I like to go out and explore," he said. "This is pretty fun, especially the last day when we get to go over to Lake of the Woods and get homemade ice cream and go swimming." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA