Oregon Wild
“To protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters.”
The origin
How they started
Oregon Wild started in 1974 as the Oregon Wilderness Coalition, became the Oregon Natural Resources Council in 1982, and took its current name in 2006. It has helped win wilderness protection for roughly 1.7 million acres in Oregon and safeguards for the Bull Run watershed that supplies Portland’s drinking water. From offices in Portland, Eugene, and Bend, it works to protect old-growth forests, roadless areas, and wildlife like wolves.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregons wildlands wildlife and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Guarding the water
$1.1MDefending and Restoring Oregons Forests and Waters Oregon Wild works to protect and restore public and private forests critical watersheds, rivers and wetlands across the state.
Including $54,892 granted onward, most of it $54,892 to Oil & Gas Action Network.
Read it as they filed it
Defending and Restoring Oregons Forests and Waters Oregon Wild works to protect and restore public and private forests critical watersheds, rivers and wetlands across the state.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Keeping wilderness wild
$544KProtecting Special Places Oregon Wild leads campaigns for the permanent protection of Wilderness areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Recreation Areas, and other protective designations to safeguard public forests and...
Read it as they filed it
Protecting Special Places Oregon Wild leads campaigns for the permanent protection of Wilderness areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Recreation Areas, and other protective designations to safeguard public forests and waters.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Keeping the wild alive
$191KHelping Native Species Thrive Oregon Wild works to protect and recover native species that are critical to functioning ecosystems and an important part of our natural heritage.
Read it as they filed it
Helping Native Species Thrive Oregon Wild works to protect and recover native species that are critical to functioning ecosystems and an important part of our natural heritage.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
86 cents of every dollar goes to the work
That ratio is a good sign, not a scorecard. Plenty of great groups run leaner and lumpier. What matters is the extremes, and Oregon Wild is nowhere near one.
Backed on the record by Wilburforce Foundation, latest filing FY24.
$1,826,350 programs, $235,485 management, $62,417 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at OW? Claim this page.
Those 85 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If OW is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 86The record
The court record
And 6 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
13 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $892,309 |
| 2012 | $658,156 |
| 2013 | $795,076 |
| 2014 | $1,086,933 |
| 2015 | $1,339,061 |
| 2016 | $1,033,186 |
| 2017 | $1,080,445 |
| 2019 | $1,391,438 |
| 2020 | $1,619,176 |
| 2021 | $1,902,955 |
| 2022 | $2,503,020 |
| 2023 | $2,040,288 |
| 2025 | $1,965,935 |
From $892K in 2011 to $2.0M in FY25, across 13 public filings.
Fights alongside Cascadia Wildlands (6 shared cases), Center for Biological Diversity (5 shared cases), Sierra Club (4 shared cases), Conservation Northwest (3 shared cases) and Crag Law Center (2 shared cases) and 8 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
Their ground
The places they defend
Repeat plaintiff against BLM old-growth sales on the O&C lands, including the Coast Range project where courts halted logging of stands with trees over a thousand years old
Who’s defending it On the ground42 Divide Timber ProjectCo-plaintiff alleging the plan illegally logs older stands in reserves meant to protect spotted owl habitat
Who’s defending it On the groundLast Chance Timber SaleCo-plaintiff challenging the sale’s logging of late successional and riparian reserves
Who’s defending it In the fightWestern Oregon State ForestsOrganized thousands of supporters behind the Western Oregon State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan and publicly backed the Board of Forestry’s March 2024 vote to advance it.
Who’s defending itSee every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Oregon Wild files one related organization on its return: Oregon Natural Resources Council Action Fund Dba Oregon Conservation Leader (501c4). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
The Oregon congressional delegation averages 87 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
86 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 Wild
52 years on the ground, 85 volunteers, 2 live lawsuits, 86 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.