voices

Ryan “Dirtmonger” Sylva, ODT thru-hiker 2017

Ryan “Dirtmonger” Sylva, ODT thru-hiker 2017

“To me, it’s a thru-hike in an isolated place that promotes a conversation in land management, ethics and usage. Hiking across a vast and remote landscape and having a random and chance encounter with cowboys and hunters to discuss how ‘all of us’ should treat the land, how we all have a responsibility, no matter our political leanings, really showed me the pulse of the people in rural areas, especially here out west.”

listen

Greater Sage Grouse and Sparrows at Hart Mountain

Greater Sage Grouse and Sparrows at Hart Mountain

watch

Sage Steppes

Sage Steppes

Coming Up: Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Join us in person or online Friday, October 4 for an unforgettable evening of captivating short films that address pressing environmental issues, highlight incredible work being done by activists around the world and celebrate the beauty of our planet.

Get Tickets

Mark Darnell   Website

Fall Stewardship Trips

Registration is now open for fall stewardship trips! Our stewardship trips are guided, small-group, volunteer service trips led by ONDA staff to complete habitat restoration work in some of Oregon’s most remote and beautiful landscapes. These trips are free and open to everyone.

Learn More

Look Back: Seeding Resilience

This summer, ONDA's Tribal Stewards participants contributed to projects to restore native grasslands in eastern Oregon, increasing the supply of native grass seed and plant materials for future restoration in the high desert.

Read On

Welcome to Oregon's High Desert

With natural beauty, deep cultural significance and a wide array of plants and wildlife, Oregon’s high desert is an impressive stretch of the Pacific Northwest, situated on the northern edge of the Great Basin.
Much of Oregon’s desert is public land, available to all Americans equally. If you like to hike  bike, raft, fish, hunt, stargaze, go birding, watch wildlife, or enjoy any number of other recreational pursuits, you can find an amazing spot to do that here, and enjoy abundant solitude, too.
Oregon Natural Desert Association invites you to see for yourself how unique and wild Oregon’s dry side is.
Discover Oregon’s Desert

Central Oregon Backcountry

Visit Central Oregon

Greg Burke   Website

Greater Hart-Sheldon Region

Explore Hart-Sheldon

Greg Burke   Website

John Day River Basin

Discover John Day

Steve Roelof   Website

Owyhee Canyonlands

Explore the Owyhee

Mark Darnell

Steens Mountain Region

Visit Steens

Barb Rumer

Oregon Desert Trail

Trek the Oregon Desert Trail

Sage Brown   Website

Caring for the Desert We Love

Oregon Natural Desert Association encourages people to get to know the desert and to take steps to conserve these public lands. ONDA is a non-profit organization that defends public lands from threats, partners with public and private land managers to preserve natural values, encourages the exploration of wild places, and restores lands and waters to give desert wildlife safe habitat in which to thrive.    
Our Approach

The Voice of the Desert

ONDA is the only conservation organization dedicated exclusively to preserving Oregon’s high desert. Our members and supporters live in Portland, Bend, all throughout Oregon state, across the country, and abroad.
Our dream? We envision a high desert in Oregon where eight million acres of public lands are conserved to ensure that fish and wildlife thrive and wild places exist for all people to treasure and explore, now and always.
About Us

Jim Davis   Website

Gary Calicott   Website

Jill Hardy

Gena Goodman-Campbell

Sage Brown   Website

Get Involved

Looking to get to know this desert and this community better?
The best way to hear about upcoming events ONDA is hosting and stewardship work we are leading is to sign up for our email updates.  
Subscribe Today

Land Acknowledgment

Oregon’s high desert is the homeland of a diversity of Indigenous people, including the Northern Paiute, Shoshone, Bannock, Wasco, Warm Springs, Yahooskin, Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla peoples organized within several Tribes. These include the Burns Paiute Tribe, Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, the Klamath Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and others.

ONDA is committed to collaborating with these communities and eager to continue learning more about how our conservation mission can complement Tribal and Indigenous conservation goals. Learn more about our commitment to justice, equity and inclusion here:

Learn More