Oregon Natural Desert Association
“Protect, defend, and restore Oregon’s high desert.”
The origin
How they started
Oregon Natural Desert Association works one region hard: the high desert of eastern Oregon. A mix of teachers, doctors, students, and naturalists started it in 1987 after a federal inventory left out desert lands they knew were wild, eventually mapping some eight million acres worth protecting. ONDA helped win Steens Mountain Wilderness in 2000, the state’s first desert wilderness, plus the Badlands and Spring Basin, and it anchors the long campaign for the Owyhee Canyonlands.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “TO PROTECT, DEFEND AND RESTORE OREGON'S HIGH DESERT LANDSCAPES.”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Keeping the wild alive
$1.6MONDA CONTINUES TO MAKE IMPORTANT PROGRESS PROTECTING AND CONSERVING PRIORITY LANDSCAPES IN THE OWYHEE CANYONLANDS, HART-SHELDON, JOHN DAY AND CENTRAL OREGON REGIONS.
Read it as they filed it
ONDA CONTINUES TO MAKE IMPORTANT PROGRESS PROTECTING AND CONSERVING PRIORITY LANDSCAPES IN THE OWYHEE CANYONLANDS, HART-SHELDON, JOHN DAY AND CENTRAL OREGON REGIONS. WE ALSO WORK WITH KEY COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND LOCAL VOLUNTEERS TO COMPLETE ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION PROJECTS TO IMPROVE WILDLIFE HABITAT.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
75 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
Backed on the record by Wilburforce Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Western Conservation Foundation and 1 other, latest filing FY24.
$1,586,649 programs, $247,713 management, $284,295 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Succeeds Natasha Bellis in the officer table.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. This one caught a changing of the guard in the act: the FY2025 officer table lists Natasha Bellis, the return itself is signed by Jim Stratton. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at ONDA? Claim this page.
Those 115 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If ONDA is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 116The record
The court record
And 1 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $990,103 |
| 2012 | $1,140,378 |
| 2013 | $2,180,403 |
| 2014 | $2,093,230 |
| 2015 | $1,522,212 |
| 2016 | $1,538,982 |
| 2017 | $1,741,868 |
| 2018 | $1,970,815 |
| 2019 | $2,515,132 |
| 2020 | $1,939,938 |
| 2021 | $2,750,879 |
| 2022 | $1,605,462 |
| 2023 | $2,062,883 |
| 2025 | $2,297,348 |
From $990K in 2011 to $2.3M in FY25, across 14 public filings.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (2 shared cases), Advocates for the West (1 shared case), Idaho Conservation League (1 shared case), Western Watersheds Project (1 shared case) and WildEarth Guardians (1 shared case). Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The record
On the Hill
Oregon Natural Desert Association has hired federal lobbyists: 17 filings from 2021 to 2025, naming 4 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources and environment/superfund.
Their ground
The places they defend
See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
The Oregon congressional delegation averages 87 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
75 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Oregon Natural Desert Association
39 years on the ground, 115 volunteers, 3 live lawsuits, 75 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.