Planting Hope

fact

Swallowtail

Swallowtail

The Oregon Swallowtail butterfly is the official state insect of Oregon and a true native of the Pacific Northwest. The Swallowtail can be seen in the lower sagebrush canyons of the Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Snake River drainage area.  Source: State Symbols USA

Latin name: Papilio oregonius

listen

South Fork Crooked River and Birds

South Fork Crooked River and Birds

listen

Great Horned Owls and Western Screech Owls

Great Horned Owls and Western Screech Owls

5,000 native plants in the ground

A new record for the most trees ever planted on an ONDA volunteer trip!

This achievement is the result of more than a decade of innovating more efficient and effective planting techniques. The resulting improvements to watershed health have the potential to be transformative for the South Fork Crooked River, which has been degraded by a century of livestock grazing and other agricultural uses.

A better home for beaver, and other wildlife

The thousands of trees planted by volunteers will sustain future generations of beaver on the South Fork Crooked River. Numerous studies have linked beaver activity on a stream to a host of ecological benefits, including cooler water temps, greater resiliency to wildfire and even an improved capacity of the landscape to capture and store carbon.

A bit of snowfall, and a stack of postcards

ONDA’s volunteers are as eager to advocate for land and water protection as they are to plant trees.

Gathered around the campfire to warm up as a light snow fell, this crew handwrote postcards to Senators Wyden and Merkley, encouraging them to push forward with protecting the South Fork Crooked as a Wild and Scenic River via the River Democracy Act.

A delicious potluck, complete with cake

After two years in our “bubbles,” this chance to break bread with others was truly joyous. And, it simply wouldn’t be an anniversary celebration without a sheet cake.

Sharing ONDA’s work with my daughter

This was my personal highlight, and it made this trip especially meaningful for me.

I showed her willows that I had planted on past ONDA trips, and we marveled at how some of the oldest trees are starting to send up shoots, spreading and expanding year by year.

On the long car ride home, just when I thought she had finally nodded off, I heard her little voice asking, “Mama, when can we go back to check on the plants?"

Next spring, I told her, and every year after that.

I truly can not wait to see how this landscape transforms thanks to your support and all the hard work of ONDA’s incredible volunteers.

To learn more about ONDA’s long-term investment in restoring this river, head to our Featured Project: South Fork Crooked River page. And, you can enjoy a few more photos from this trip in this Flickr album.

A special thank you to the donors that made this project possible: The Trout and Salmon Foundation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, East Cascade Audubon Society, Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund, and thousands of ONDA members!

2022 Stewardship Trips and Projects

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Category: Notes from the Field

a recap of a stewardship trip hosted by Oregon Natural Desert Association

Planting Hope

By on April 27, 2022 | Posted in: Notes from the Field

Author: Gena Goodman-Campbell  |  Published: April 27, 2022  |  Category: Notes from the Field ONDA’s stewardship director shares a report from a special desert stewardship trip where ONDA celebrated it’s […]

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Your Next Autumn Activity:
Volunteering

By on September 30, 2021 | Posted in: Notes from the Field, Uncategorized

As golden aspen leaves and frosty mornings mark the arrival of fall in Oregon’s high desert, welcomed rains are bringing fire danger down and allowing volunteers to resume work on […]

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fishing strawberry lake oregon

“A diverse and magical place”

By on July 22, 2021 | Posted in: Look Back, Notes from the Field

Tribal Stewards reflect on the 2021 season In early July, we introduced you to the 2021 Tribal Stewards crew. Now that they have wrapped up their five-week session of restoration […]

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Helping Fish, Addressing Fire and Drought

By on June 21, 2021 | Posted in: Look Back, Notes from the Field

Author: Beth Macinko  |  Published: June 21, 2021  |  Categories: Look Back, Notes from the Field ONDA volunteers plant thousands of willow and repair fences in the Malheur watershed The […]

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Before and After Stewardship

By on October 31, 2019 | Posted in: Look Back, Notes from the Field

The difference that ONDA volunteers can make in just a few hours or days of working together is pretty incredible. Here are a few before and after pictures to give […]

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Trip of a Lifetime

By on June 26, 2018 | Posted in: Look Back, Notes from the Field

ONDA member Robin Kaai recently took part in a stewardship trip in the John Day River Basin. Here she offers you her recap. Dear fellow ONDA members, When registration for ONDA’s […]

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Giving Wild Animals Freedom to Roam

By on August 28, 2017 | Posted in: Look Back, Notes from the Field

Volunteers remove obsolete fence from more than 90,000 acres in the Steens Mountain Wilderness The 97,229 acre cow-free portion of the Steens Mountain Wilderness Area in southeastern Oregon is now […]

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Service at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

By on August 2, 2016 | Posted in: Notes from the Field

Carol Savonen is a member of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a group formed initially by older women to champion America’s public lands. Here, she shares the experience the Broads […]

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