People Who Collaborate

"I enjoyed when I could connect a concept that I taught with a real life example that students could relate to. I am always looking for opportunities to get the students involved in hands-on, out of the building activities. Collaborating with various groups allows students to have those opportunities."

Roxane Bailey recently retired as a science teacher at Burns High School, where there was no such thing as a "typical" day. "On average for my science classes, we were either in a classroom and I was delivering a lesson or we were participating in a lab that supported the curriculum. If I was teaching Horticulture, we were usually in the greenhouse. I also managed the school side of the Harney Internship Program, which had me following up with students at their intern job sites." READ MORE.

Birds on the Move: Fall Migration in the Harney Basin

Fall brings to mind piles of leaves, mounds of pumpkins at the grocery store and cold, crisp mornings as the weather starts to change. It also means birds will be on the move as they migrate from their northern breeding grounds to the places they overwinter in the south. As part of the Pacific Flyway, birds use the Harney Basin as a place to pause on that journey.

Melissa Petschauer, Ecological Programs Coordinator with the High Desert Partnership, noted that fall migration has already begun for many species. “Fall migration starts earlier than people might expect, with birds starting to move south as early as August,” she said. “September and October are peak months for movement for waterfowl, but with the flooded wet meadows dried up, they will be in open bodies of water,” she said. READ MORE.

Photo by Brandon McMullen.

Harney Water Collaborative Begins Its Work

Groundwater in the Harney Basin has been declining for decades due to agricultural use outpacing natural recharge. The basin is now designated both a Critical Groundwater Management Area (requiring use reductions) and a Serious Water Management Problem Area (requiring flow meters on all irrigation wells by March 2028). These rules aim to stabilize the aquifer but pose real challenges for farmers and ranchers whose livelihoods depend on it. The rules do allow room for voluntary, community-led approaches — but making that work requires collaboration and trust locally. Without it, mandated reductions could seriously damage the agricultural economy and broader community.

Harney isn't alone in this: seven Oregon counties face similarly serious groundwater concerns, and lessons from other regions may help inform the path forward.

The Harney Water Collaborative was formed to pursue durable, community-supported solutions balancing water sustainability with the basin's economic, environmental, and social needs.

Interested in being involved? Contact High Desert Partnership at 541-573-7820 or director@highdesertpartnership.org.

Could Citizens Make Better Decisions Than Politicians?

A recent Oregon Humanities article looks at the rise of "civic assemblies" — groups of everyday citizens chosen by lottery to study an issue and make policy recommendations, an idea with ancient roots that's gaining traction worldwide. The piece traces Oregon's own history with the approach, from Ken Kesey's 1974 "Bend in the River" gathering to Deschutes County's 2024 assembly on youth homelessness, and highlights High Desert Partnership's collaborative work in Harney County as a local example of how trust-building between ranchers, agencies, and conservationists can lead to community-owned solutions.

Read the full article: Democracy by Lot

Growing, Harvest, Bees, POWWOW!

Free growing, harvest and beekeeping class coming up during the Harney County Fair & Rodeo Wednesday - Friday, Sep 9 - 11. See the flyer below for more.

POWWOW Kickoff Party during Harney Nights, Thursday, Sep 17, 5-8 pm at Arrowhead Plaza.
To have a booth or are a singer or drummer interested in performing,
contact Jess Hedges at 541 589 1455. See the flyer below for more.

Community Screening: The Caldera

Join us for a special screening of The Caldera, an observational documentary following a rural Oregon–Nevada border community as it confronts the development of one of the world's largest known lithium deposits. Set against the sweeping backdrop of the McDermitt Caldera — sagebrush steppe, working ranches, and the ancestral lands of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe — the film captures a community at the crossroads of energy transition, land, and identity.

For rural communities across Eastern Oregon, the questions this film raises hit close to home: how do we weigh economic opportunity against the land and ways of life we've stewarded for generations? What does it mean to have a voice in decisions shaping our region's future?

Stay after the film for a facilitated community discussion, where we'll dig into these questions together.

Tuesday, September 29, 4:30-6pm, Screening + facilitated discussion at Desert Historic Theatre

4th Annual Frontier MedQuest camp

This summer, eleven students from across Oregon spent a week in Harney County exploring what a future in rural healthcare could look like. 

⁠The 4th annual Frontier MedQuest camp gave students hands-on opportunities to shadow professionals at Harney District Hospital, practice de-escalation scenarios using virtual reality, learn about dental care from Burns Dental Group, tour the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center OSUAgSci, and much more.⁠ The week concluded with a community dinner hosted by EOARC and catered by the Food Systems Initiative, along with an inspiring career presentation from David Bohnert.⁠ 

Thank you to our partners at Northeast Oregon AHEC—the Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center—and to every local professional, business, and community member who helped make this experience possible. ⁠

Programs like Frontier MedQuest introduce young people to meaningful careers while helping build a stronger future for rural healthcare. See you next year!⁠

THIS IS HARNEY

2026 Upcoming Events

Tuesday, Sep 22 | Harney Water Collaborative Meeting

Tuesday, Sep 22| Youth Changing the Community Collaborative Meeting

Monday, Sep 28 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting

Wednesday, Sep 30 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, Sep 30 | Harney County Forest Restoration Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, Oct 21 | Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, Oct 28 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Thursday, Nov 12 | Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, Nov 18 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Thursday, Nov 26 | Thanksgiving Holiday

Wednesday, Dec 2 | Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, Dec 16 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Check out High Desert Partnership's event calendar.

Seven Collaboratives Supported By

High Desert Partnership

HDP Website

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

PO Box 252
Burns, OR | 97720 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.