ONDA is leading the appeals of several wild and scenic river plans to remove livestock from designated wild rivers. Our successful challenges of the Donner und Blitzen and Owyhee Wild and Scenic River Plans have established crucial legal precedents that will help secure protection of other treasured rivers throughout the arid West.  ONDA also advocates for Wild and Scenic River Status for rivers throughout Oregon's Outback that deserve protection for their scenic beauty and crucial habitat for imperiled species.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protects free-flowing rivers with "outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values." These rivers provide clean drinking water for people and important habitat for fish and insects that live in the water, as well as a whole system of plants and animals that thrive on their shores.  ONDA works to hold the BLM accountable for enforcing regulations on these waterways, as defined by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.  Wild and Scenic Rivers must be administered to protect the values for which it was designated with the primary emphasis on preserving aesthetic, historic, scenic or scientific features.  Wild and Scenic Rivers  that flow through BLM land are also included in the National Landscape Conservation System.