This portion of the Oak Creek watershed serves as a working agricultural laboratory that includes the OSU Dairy Center, beef and sheep production barns, and the Veterinary Medicine Research Farm with llamas, horses, and ponies. The OSU Dairy Center is a focal point of this agricultural area, with 180 acres of managed dairy land, an average of 300 cows, including 150 milked twice daily, mature Jersey and Holstein milking cows, daily milk yields of about 1,000 gallons, a combination of grazing and confined feeding, 15-20 student employees, and faculty and graduate research on animal nutrition, animal behavior, cow comfort, and farm nutrient and waste management. Efforts to protect land and water resources include miles of new fencing to control livestock movement, manage pasture conditions more closely, protect riparian, wetland, and stream habitats, maintain quality forage, help control water movement and soil erosion, and improve fish, wildlife habitat, and water quality. A soil aerator reduces soil compaction, enhances uniform water infiltration, helps reduce rapid transport of surface applied water and surface runoff, aerates the soil profile, reduces odors, and reduces runoff through worm and mammal holes. The College of Agriculture, especially the Departments of Animal Science and Fisheries and Wildlife, develops research and new techniques and technologies to protect and enhance air and water quality, and stewardship of the Agriculture Reach is presented as essential to the long-term sustainability of the Oak Creek watershed for human and non-human users. The OSU Dairy Center also works with many groups to foster communication, improve management, and provide public services through conservation demonstrations. In the spring of 2003, an Earth Day community revegetation project co-sponsored by the OSU Dairy planted over 5,000 trees and hundreds of native wetland plants to enhance riparian conditions, while music, food, and celebration encouraged communication and trust among diverse participants, and the event was intended to continue annually. Youth involvement includes work with Benton County Juvenile Service and the Corvallis Boys and Girls Clubs in riparian enhancement efforts near Oak Creek and a community vegetable garden project near the Oak Grove, east of 53rd Street off Campus Way, and the Dairy Club annually hosts Future Farmers of America and 4-H for State of Oregon dairy judging competitions. Community outreach and education invite the public to visit the lambing barn in springtime or the dairy and arrange tours to learn about operations, research, and agricultural heritage.