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.”

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Time Lapse: a night at Canyon Camp in six seconds

Time Lapse: a night at Canyon Camp in six seconds

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Wildflower Poetry Reading

Wildflower Poetry Reading

Meet the Photographers

All of the images you see throughout our print and digital publications, including our Wild Desert Calendar, are generously contributed by photographers who share our passion for public lands conservation. Meet some of these talented volunteers who frequently contribute to our work.

Read On

Sage Brown   Website

Coming Up: Oregon's Desert in Print

Join us for our upcoming event in Bend. This exclusive collection of images features photographers from across the state showcasing the wonders of Oregon’s high desert through their work and supports conservation of the region’s land, waters and wildlife.

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Volunteer Opportunities

Spend your free time supporting the Oregon desert lands you love alongside other desert conservation enthusiasts. Check out upcoming office and event volunteer opportunities in Bend and Portland this fall.

Volunteer With Us

Take Action for Conservation

Every American owns the public lands, waters and wildlife that make Oregon’s high desert special, and every one of us must be an advocate for their conservation. If you want to go further with your advocacy, sign up to be a Desert Defender.

Act Now

Jon Muyskens

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 conservation advocacy, and restores lands and waters to support healthy habitat for wildlife.    
Our Approach

The Voice of the Desert

ONDA is the only conservation organization dedicated exclusively to preserving Oregon’s high desert. Our active community of conservation advocates hail from all corners of Oregon, with supporters from across the country.
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, opportunities to join us on volunteer restoration trips in the desert, or when to take part in time-sensitive advocacy actions is to sign up for our email updates.  
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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:

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