Partnering with Tribal Communities

Indigenous people have lived in the high desert since time immemorial and practice a wide array of land stewardship techniques. ONDA partners with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities to restore key habitat on Tribally owned lands. We also support Indigenous leadership in the conservation and stewardship of high desert lands and waters.

 

listen

Great Horned Owls and Western Screech Owls

Great Horned Owls and Western Screech Owls

watch

Discover Desert Pronghorn

Discover Desert Pronghorn

voices

Scott Bowler, ONDA member from Portland

Scott Bowler, ONDA member from Portland

The desert speaks for itself, but very softly. I support ONDA to promote and enable discovery of the amazing beauty and recreational opportunities of the high desert by much broader groups of people; and most especially to protect forever the full and diverse landscape of the Owyhee Canyonlands, a place without parallel or equal in our country.”

Tribal Stewards

To support emerging conservation leaders in tribal communities, ONDA’s Tribal Stewards program provides paid opportunities for tribal youth and young adults to restore ecosystem health in Oregon’s high desert. Participants gain experience in conservation career paths and enhance their connection with ancestral lands and cultural practices.

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Restoring Burns Paiute Tribal Properties

The traditional homelands of the Burns Paiute Tribe are vast, spanning thousands of square miles across what is now central and southeastern Oregon and into parts of Nevada, California and Idaho. Descended primarily from the Wadatika Band of Northern Paiutes who were forcibly removed from their homelands, members of the Burns Paiute Tribe have regained ownership of portions of their ancestral lands. The Tribe now owns three properties in Oregon’s high desert that they manage for conservation and traditional cultural uses.

ONDA has partnered with the Burns Paiute Tribe for over a decade to restore key habitat for fish and wildlife on Tribally owned land.

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Bolstering the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs’ Pine Creek Conservation Area

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are made up of three Tribes: the Wascoes, whose ancestors resided along the Columbia River, the Warm Springs, who lived along the Columbia River’s tributaries, and the Northern Paiutes, who share ancestry with the members of the Burns Paiute Tribe. The Northern Paiutes later settled on the Warm Springs Reservation after being forcibly removed from their homelands in southeast and central Oregon. Outside of their reservation, the Tribes also own several conservation properties, the largest of which is the Pine Creek Conservation Area.

ONDA has partnered with the Tribes for decades to restore key habitat for steelhead and other native fish and wildlife at Pine Creek Conservation Area.

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