(Photo above courtesy of Oregon Natural Desert Association)
More than 20 trips with the Oregon Natural Desert Association into Oregon’s high desert – from rafting expeditions to stewardship projects to hikes with experts – will open for registration on Friday, February 13.
For more than two decades, ONDA’s Stewardship Program has led trips into the high desert, combining the meaningful work to improve wildlife habitat and restore streams with the fun of exploring with an expert guide. The program was recognized with the Oregon Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Program in 2011.
The 2015 calendar of trips includes paddling up Lake Owyhee into the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area to help the Bureau of Land Management map invasive tamarisk saplings; exploring the Whychus-Deschutes canyons on a geology-focused hike; and restoring wet meadows on the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge to benefit wildlife.
Descriptions of the 2015 trips will appear on ONDA’s website at ONDA.org/VolunteerTrips. The descriptions include difficulty ratings and details of activities. (Check out last year’s trips until Feb. 13 at ONDA.org/VolunteerTrips2014.)
“The ONDA trips are a great way to experience the high desert,” ONDA Stewardship Coordinator Jefferson Jacobs says. “We get important work done, and then regularly also take time to check out petroglyphs, soak in hot springs and otherwise explore.”
In 2014, Stewardship Program volunteers contributed 4,288 hours of work. They planted6,300 trees and shrubs in riparian areas, removed 2.3 miles of obsolete barbed wire fence so wildlife could safely pass and rehabilitated two springs to restore surface water for wildlife.
Registering early is advised, as trips typically fill up fast. For more information, contact Jefferson Jacobs at jjacobs@onda.org| 541-330-2638 or Sam Frank at sam@onda.org | 541-330-2638.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association is a Bend-based nonprofit organization that has worked to protect, defend and restore Oregon’s high desert for more than 25 years. ONDA conducts stewardship projects in stunning, ecologically significant areas in the Central Oregon Backcountry, John Day River Basin, Greater Hart-Sheldon Region and the Owyhee Canyonlands. Learn more at ONDA.org.
