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A Note From Executive Director Brenda Smith
OWEB itself is funded in part through the Oregon Lottery and as a result of restaurants, bars and other businesses being closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, revenue coming into OWEB is being impacted due to a significant drop in lottery play. This reduced funding for OWEB is now directly impacting nonprofits in Oregon, like High Desert Partnership and the collaboratives it supports.
From the virtual call we had on April 7, we learned that as of April 3, future funding requests to OWEB were put on pause. This directly impacts five projects of the Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative but does not impact already funded projects.
This has been tough news to hear and learn but we continue to move forward. There is a great deal out of our control and for that it’s a wait and see approach. But, there is still much within our control and we know these times are temporary. We are currently developing an application for a second Focused Investment Partnership grant with OWEB and will continue forward with that with a June 30 deadline looming. This is also an important time to evaluate our funding sources and how we financially support the work we do in Harney County. We had started this effort before the pandemic affected all our lives and our current reality has reinforced that this is an important priority.
We don’t talk much about how High Desert Partnership is funded and in turn funds the six collaboratives we support. High Desert Partnership is a 501c3 nonprofit that is largely funded through grants. HDP's grant funding comes from foundations plus state and federal government agencies like: OWEB, Wilburforce Foundation, The Ford Family Foundation, Business Oregon, Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Leopold + Stevens Foundation USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service. This grant funding, in addition to giving HDP receives from individual donors, is making it possible to create economic opportunity, and maintain and restore healthy lands and water in Harney County while also protecting our enduring rural way of life. For Harney County, this is essential work for our community.
To help offset a loss in funding, High Desert Partnership is participating in a new giving effort, GivingTuesdayNow of which every donation through May 26 will receive a proportional match. Following is a note about this effort.
Wishing you all very well.
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GIVE + MATCH#GivingTuesdayNow is underway; it's a global day of giving and unity created as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. We are asking for your support to help us continue the work of working together.
What makes this fundraising effort different is that High Desert Partnership is participating in the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative, an effort that runs alongside GivingTuesdayNow through May 26. For all donations made through by May 26, they are supplemented by available match funds on both national and statewide levels.
Thank you for considering giving. It is through your heart for our organization that we can continue to do our important work. Please give.
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COVID-19 Information Sources
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People Who Collaborate“As a society, we rely on private landowners for food, fiber, open space, wildlife habitat, hunting opportunities, and their contribution to our local, state, and national economy. But society also has a lot of expectations and asks a lot of private landowners. Keep water clean, use it as efficiently as possible, don’t let your soil wash or blow away, protect wetlands, provide habitat, control weeds, conserve energy, don’t be too loud, stinky, or dusty. When I do my job, I’m helping private landowners meet their own individual and business goals, and helping them to meet the needs and wants of society.” As shared by Zola Ryan; Zola is a District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and an active volunteer with the Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative (HBWI). Read more.
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Working Together Continues
The photo above is 25+ individuals, most of them volunteer, participating in a Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative (HBWI) collaborative VIRTUAL meeting held Wednesday, April 29. While we would much rather meet in person, 'zooming' is the next best thing during these times.
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Harney Basin: a vital spring stop for migratory birdsWhile the annual John Scharff Migratory Bird Festival was cancelled this year as a result of a statewide order to stay home and stop the spread of Covid-19, locals may still want to take up the solitary pursuit of bird watching as the spring show in the Harney Basin is a stunner.
Thousands and thousands of birds are passing through this area as they migrate up the Pacific Flyway to their nesting grounds in Canada. These include, among many others, Northern pintails, mallards, American wigeon, sandhill cranes, tundra swans and two different species of white geese. One of these species, the Ross’s goose, is notable in its journey. Often confused with a snow goose, the Ross’s goose is much smaller in size than a snow goose. Read more.Above, Ross's Geese landing in a wild flood irrigated wet meadow; video taken by Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative Aquatic Health Coordinator Dominic Bachman.
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While we're staying home, spring has arrived in the Harney Basin. For those of you who can't witness this migration this spring in person. Follow us and our partners on Facebook and Instagram for the sights and sounds of spring in the Harney Basin. More below.
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Experiencing Harney County's Natural HistoryThe events planned by Portland Audubon's Eastern Oregon Field Coordinator, Teresa Wicks, were canceled through April. The next event currently planned is May 9 with bird counting as part of Project IBiS.
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2020 Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 6 | BizHarney Working Group Meeting
Wednesday, May 13 | Harney County Restoration Collaborative Meeting
Wednesday, May 20 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting
Thursday, May 21 | Harney County Wildfire Collaborative Meeting
Wednesday, June 10 | Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative Collaborative Meeting
Wednesday, June 17 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting
*Currently all meetings are virtual meetings that can be accessed via ZOOM Conferencing or a phone call. Contact Ben Cate at ben@highdesertpartnership.org for conferencing links and numbers.
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Malheur Lake Airboat TourFeel the wind in your hair.
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Reviving Malheur Lake
A short film about Malheur Lake, its current condition and what is being learned to help stage its revival.
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GIVE + MATCH
#GivingTuesdayNow is underway; it's a global day of giving and unity created as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. We are asking for your support to help us continue the work of working together.
What makes this fundraising effort different is that High Desert Partnership is participating in the #Nonprofit Matching-Fund Initiative, an effort that runs alongside GivingTuesdayNow through May 26. For all donations made through by May 26, they are supplemented by available match funds on both national and statewide levels.
Thank you for considering giving. It is through your heart for our organization that we can continue to do our important work. Please give.
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