People Who Collaborate

Harney County became Patty's home in 2002 after a lifetime of military moves. She's from North Carolina but had moved around a great deal due to her dad’s military transfers. Following college, Patty herself served in the military as a Marine and married her husband Jeff; Jeff grew up in Eastern Oregon and had fond memories of the time he spent in Harney County as a kid. Ranching and farming were not part of Patty's life before Harney County but she and Jeff are 18 years into it and are thankful they raised their daughters in Harney County and live a productive, agricultural lifestyle. READ MORE.

Harney Basin: A Vital Spring Stop for Migratory Birds

It's spring which means the spring show put on by migratory birds is a stunner. Thousands and thousands of birds will pass 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.

Pictured: Ross' Geese in a flood irrigated wet meadow taken spring 2021. Photo by Portland Audubon Eastern Oregon Field Coordinator Teresa Wicks.

Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative Field Day

April 27 the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative partners spent the day together viewing and discussing projects completed in the Harney Basin within the last six years. It was more than 6 years ago that High Desert Partnership and the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative were awared more than $6 million from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and their Focused Investment Partnership grant program. There was a visit to the new Sweek Dam, a discussion at a stop where an innovative automated flood irrigation system is being installed and a final stop at the Malheur National Wildfire Refuge for a talk about Malheur Lake restoration progress.

Celebrating 15 Years!

April 19 the HDP board and staff along with the Harney County Watershed Council traded a meeting inside for a tour of the new Sweek Dam and an automated flood irrigation system, both products to better manage water within the wild flood irrigated system of the Harney Basin.

Malheur Lake Restoration Studies Spring Forward

Located in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Malheur Lake is a large and shallow body of water that serves as a crucial stopover on the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds and also provides a home for the local waterfowl population in eastern Oregon. The Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative (HBWC) will once again lead a number of studies at the lake this summer in year two of a two-year study to gather enough data to formulate a plan to restore Malheur Lake to a clear-water state. READ MORE.

Pictured: A mesocosm structure in Malheur Lake that is reached by airboat.

Oregon Divides

Oregon Humanities has a new monthly show, The Detour about people and ideas. Their Executive Director, Adam Davis, who is also a HDP board member recently talked with Chad Karges, one of the founders of HDP as well as Amaury Vogel, associate executive director of the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center; and Eddie Melendrez, member of the Ontario City Council, "about how Oregonians can work across differences, beliefs, and backgrounds to develop relationships and build trust". It's a fascinating listen. LISTEN HERE.

Survey About Wildfire Preparedness

Here's an opportunity to include your voice and perspective about wildfire preparedness. The Department of Land Conservation and Development "is conducting a Survey and Online Open House to engage people from across the state and gather feedback on ways state and local land use planning programs can help communities be better prepared for wildfires to minimize risk and improve community resilience." Access them both through the links below and the Survey and Online Open House will be available through Friday, May 27.

Visit the Online Open House
Take the Wildfire Adapted Oregon Survey

Burns Paiute Tribe Receives Smoke Management Funding

Recently, for smoke management projects, 20 Oregon organizations and county and tribal governments received funding and the Burns Paiute Tribe was one of them. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality awarded $1.3M of 2022 Smoke Management Grants that were made available as part of Senate Bill 762 (2021).This state senate bill is the same senate bill that made funds available for wildfire resiliency projects and of which High Desert Partnership and the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative received funding. For more information about the Smoke Management Grants visit https://go.usa.gov/xumPx.

Disaster Assistance for Farmers & Ranchers

This from Oregon State University Extension Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems . . .

In December 2021, the Oregon Legislature approved funds for farmers and ranchers that have been affected by natural disasters in 2021. Starting May 9, the Oregon Disaster Assistance Program (ODAP) is open until June 3rd. To apply, check out the ODAP website and visit one of the approved lenders listed below.

Lenders who are accepting applications:

If you are a farmer or rancher and not qualified to apply for the ODAP funds, the Farmer and Rancher Grant Program is also open and accepting applications. If you have any questions about either program, contact Rachel Suits at suitsr@oregonstate.edu.

2022 Upcoming Events

Tuesday, May 17 | Harney County Wildfire Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, May 18 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting

Tuesday, May 24 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Tuesday, May 31 | Harney County Forest Restoration Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, June 15 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting

Tuesday, June 28 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Wednesday, July 20 | High Desert Partnership Board Meeting

Tuesday, July 26 | Biz Harney Opportunity Collaborative Meeting

Check out High Desert Partnership's event calendar.

Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative and

Reviving Malheur Lake

Harney County Wildfire Collaborative and
Megafire Prevention

Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative and
Wild Flood Irrigation

Six 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.