Spring Creek Project

The Cabin at Shotpouch Creek is a comfortable two-bedroom cabin nestled in the Oregon Coast Range on a 70-acre nature reserve about 25 miles west of Corvallis. The house overlooks Shotpouch Creek, a tributary of the Marys River. From the cabin, miles of hiking trails climb into the forest- and fern-covered hills. Inside the cabin is a spacious living/meeting/writing area. A wall of windows looks out onto the creek and meadow. The furnished cabin has a simple kitchen, a heating/cooling unit, and a landline telephone. There is no cell phone service or internet at the cabin.

The Land and Creek

Shotpouch Cabin is located within the traditional homelands of the Ampinefu or Marys River Band of Kalapuya, Wusi’n or Alsea People, and the Yaqo’n or Yaquina People. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

Shotpouch Creek is the beginning of a watercourse that supports the migration of cutthroat trout, pacific lamprey, and many other aquatic animals to and from the Pacific Ocean. Shotpouch Creek flows to the Tum Tum River, which flows to the Marys River, then the Willamette River, and then the Columbia River, which enters the Pacific Ocean just west of Astoria, Oregon.

Residency Programs

The 2023 Environmental Writing Fellowship and Residency: Oregon's Climate Forests

The Spring Creek Project, in partnership with the conservation nonprofit Oregon Wild, is inviting a writer to spend a year exploring, researching, and writing about the critical issue of forest conservation in Oregon and its impact on the climate emergency.

Graduate Student Research and Writing Residency

OSU faculty members are invited to nominate graduate students in the humanities or environmental sciences for a writing retreat at Shotpouch Cabin. The Retreat is offered to OSU graduate students who are engaged in a place-based writing and/or research project such as a thesis or dissertation project, independent study, or internship in the humanities or environmental sciences. 

Gatherings

Working and Writing the Woods—A Volunteer Work Party and Free Writing Workshop

During these biannual, all-day events at Shotpouch Cabin, we begin by working on the land—planting cedars, restoring trails, removing invasive blackberry. In the afternoon, we share lunch and then gather in the cabin for a free writing workshop.