Research emphasis in the 1950s and 1960s concerned effects of forest management (clearcutting, prescribed fire, roads) on streamflow, soil erosion, and water quality.

In the 1980s, these basic studies continued under LTER and were augmented with applied research in silviculture, wildlife, landscape ecology, carbon dynamics, and other topics.

Research within the LTER program since the 1990s is concerned with how land use, natural disturbances, and climate affect carbon and nutrient dynamics, biodiversity, and hydrology.

[10] The Andrews Forest Program includes a very broad spectrum of outreach activities with multiple objectives and funding sources.

The Education program provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate classes from regional and international schools to visit the forest for field courses, study tours and research experiences.

Since 2002, the Andrews Forest has engaged poets, essayists, philosophers, religious scholars – in the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program jointly sponsored by the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word [16] in the School of Religion, Philosophy, and History at Oregon State University.