At that time, he’d recently taken several trips to the high desert to search for quiet places to record nature sounds. However, even where John could find natural spaces away from noisy highway traffic and the like, he was often left annoyed by the pervasive sound of cattle across otherwise vast and quiet expanses of public lands. After his travels, he saw an Oregon Field Guide episode about Hart Mountain and ONDA’s involvement with fence and cattle removal there. He joined ONDA that day and took part in his first restoration trip shortly after.

On his way to that first volunteer trip with ONDA, he stopped along Highway 26 to dip his hand in the Deschutes River to say hello to the desert; he’s since made that a tradition every time he crosses over Mount Hood. Another memorable moment from volunteering with ONDA came during a fence pull on the remote back side of Pine Creek Conservation Area, when they  watched a lightning storm approach at night over distant hills across the John Day River.

Along with riparian restoration work, John has also advocated for desert rivers, by writing to elected officials many times and nominating a stream for Wild and Scenic protection in Sens. Wyden and Merkley’s River Democracy Act. 

“This planet is all we really have, and we should treat it as if it were our own body. It is my dream that remaining natural areas like the Owyhee will gain protection from further damage, and then I dream a paradigm shift will ensue towards returning already developed land back to nature — roads can be removed, ecosystems can be reconnected.”