Our Vision, Mission and Beliefs

Devin Dahlgren   Website

Vision

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.

Mission

Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) exists to protect, defend and restore Oregon’s high desert for current and future generations.

Beliefs

  • Oregon’s high desert deserves protection because of its stunning beauty, unique ecology, recreational opportunities, and cultural heritage.
  • As Americans, we are all richer because of our public lands and that this incredible legacy must be maintained for the benefit of current and future generations and for fish and wildlife.
  • To know Oregon’s high desert is to love it. Connecting people with the land is the foundation of conservation.
  • Public lands are common ground for diverse communities. It is important to respectfully consider all perspectives while passionately pursuing our mission. (See Our Commitment to Justice, Equity and Inclusion.)
  • Science should inform priorities on where and how we do our work.

voices

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

“The people I have had the privilege to share time with each season keep me volunteering again and again. Who else but those ONDA staff leaders would make fresh coffee at dawn each morning or pack a watermelon all day to serve as a reward under a juniper in a steep canyon?” Craig, who grew up in northwestern Nevada, says ONDA connects him with places he loves and a mission he believes in. “My grandfather and his father put up wire fences for their ranching needs. Taking out barbed wire sort of completes a circle for me.”

voices

Taylor Goforth, Sage Society member

Taylor Goforth, Sage Society member

“I support ONDA on a monthly basis as a way I can keep in touch with the root of my conservation ethic and allow for their strong advocacy work to keep going. I count on them!”

success

Oregon’s first desert wilderness

Oregon’s first desert wilderness

Steens Mountain: Oregon’s first desert wilderness

On October 30, 2000, Congress passed the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act, finishing the work that had taken ONDA and the other members of the Steens-Alvord Coalition decades  

Steens Mountain is a land of startling contrasts: dramatic u-shaped

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Our Commitment to
Justice, Equity and Inclusion

Oregon Natural Desert Association is pursuing equity in environmental conservation because everyone deserves clean air, clean water and access to open, wild spaces. America’s public lands and waters can contribute to all of these essential basic needs when all people have equal access to them, when all feel welcome in them, and when they are […]

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Our Approach

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