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The Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to protect the wild lands of eastern Oregon; it was founded in 1987 and has since concentrated on the reduction of livestock grazing throughout the state's high desert regions, along with the designation of public lands as wilderness area.
Campaigns
ONDA's efforts have included grazing elimination at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge and on the Owyhee River. Their longstanding drive to increase protections for Steens Mountain included controversial activities that caused one Harney County commissioner to dub ONDA employees "terrorists." Recently the group has focused on the creation, mapping and marking of a wilderness hiking trail from Bend, Oregon to the Idaho border. This trail, now known as the Oregon Desert Trail, has won accolades from outdoor groups and publications.
Beginning at the end of January 2016, ONDA, along with other Oregon-based conservation groups, began efforts to mobilize volunteers who are interested in assisting environmental restoration at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge after the militant occupation there ends. ONDA announced that more than 600 people from all over the Pacific Northwest responded to their calls.