Crook

Using science to inform policy for a wildfire-adapted Oregon

In response to longer and more severe wildfire seasons, a growing population living in the wildland-urban interface and the extensive impacts of the 2020 Labor Day fires, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 762 in 2021, ...

Sep 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension Fire Program fosters place-based partnerships

As a land grant university, Oregon State University takes research and innovation out of the labs and puts them into practice in the communities and landscapes around the state through Extension programs. While OSU’s influence ...

Aug 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension Small Farms Program among nation’s best

A majority of the 35,547 farms in Oregon are small-acreage, meaning they are 50 acres or less in area. The smallest farms, or those with less than 10 acres, account for 32% of all farms. Farms between 10 and 50 acres ...

Apr 2024 | Impact Story

High Desert Garden Tour educates gardeners on growing conditions

Gardeners in the fast-growing high desert of Central Oregon encounter a short growing season, limited precipitation, frost any day of the year, and lackluster soil. Both ornamentals and food are a challenge to raise successfully. ...

Apr 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension provides leadership for statewide Outdoor School

Outdoor School is a transformative, immersive experience that instills environmental literacy and positive learning behaviors in students. It also encourages a belief that Oregon is a special place, with ecosystems they can enjoy and...

Mar 2024 | Impact Story

PSA campaign equips Central Oregon to become a fire-adapted community

Wildfire starts in Central Oregon have increased as more people recreate in local forests, build campfires, use equipment and burn debris to manage their properties. Climate change combined with a century of fire suppression has ...

Mar 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension Master Gardener Program increases diversity, equity and inclusivity

With 2,400 volunteers in 28 counties across the state, the 47-year-old Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener program made contact with at least 105,000 Oregonians in 2023. Traditionally, the structure and delivery ...

Feb 2024 | Impact Story

School IPM Program protects health and safety of Oregon children

Asthma is the top cause of absenteeism in U.S. public K-12 schools. Mice urine is an asthma trigger, and mice are one of the top pests in Oregon schools. Mice and other pests can carry numerous life-threatening diseases. ...

Jan 2024 | Impact Story

Crook County Middle School students discover college and technical education

About one in five residents of rural Crook County in central Oregon hold a bachelor’s degree, which is below regional and state averages. Exposing students to a college and career experience before high school is important to...

Apr 2023 | Impact Story

Virtual babysitter training provided by OSU Extension helps address Oregon's child care gap

Quality child care remains in short supply in Oregon. A 2019 report from Oregon State University found that child care “deserts” existed in all 36 of the state’s counties. During the COVID-19 pandemic many youths were ...

Apr 2023 | Impact Story