Oregon Natural Desert Association
“Protect, defend, and restore Oregon’s high desert.”
1 live lawsuit, 6 comments to the agencies, 75 cents of every dollar to the work.
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.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
ONDA continues to make important progress protecting
$1.6M, 75% of spendingAnd 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.
$1,586,649 programs, $247,713 management, $284,295 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed on the record by Wilburforce Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Western Conservation Foundation and Wilderness Society, latest filing FY24.
The people
Who does the work
Took the helm from Ryan Houston, who drew $171,236 in the final year on file.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. 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.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (2 shared cases), Advocates for the West (1 shared case), Western Watersheds Project (1 shared case) and WildEarth Guardians (1 shared case). Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap 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 (none on record for 2024).
On the Hill
ONDA has hired federal lobbyists: 17 filings from 2021 to 2025, naming 3 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources and the environment.
The record
On the record with the agencies
6 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
The record, in order
- 1987Oregon Natural Desert Association is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1999
- 2016Western Watersheds Project v. Schneider: amicus, still in court.the docket
- 20182 cases filed, all closed: Oregon Natural Desert Association v. U.S. Forest Service; Oregon Natural Desert Association v. Rose.the docket
- 2022First appears in the grants of Wilburforce Foundation and Wilderness Society.the funders’ returns
- 20231 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Pew Charitable Trusts and Western Conservation Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 20242 comments, both to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20251 comment to the Bureau of Land Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20262 comments, one to the Bureau of Land Management and one to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 4 federal cases with the group on the docket, 6 comments filed under its own name, 4 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
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
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
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 the Oregon Natural Desert Association
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.