High Desert Partnership

High Desert Partnership At High Desert Partnership, our secret sauce is people working together. At High Desert Partnership, we talk a lot about collaboration, because it works.

We are bringing people together to find common ground in addressing rural challenges and acting on opportunities. For the past 15 years, by working together we've found practical ways to tackle some of our community's hardest challenges—restoring forests and wetlands, mitigating wildfire, creating opportunities for youth and growing our local economy. And we'll continue working together to take on

whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead. Our agenda is simple—we are in the business of finding common ground. Before an issue comes to a head we start talking with folks. Those who want to be part of the solution take a seat at the table. We come together to listen, share ideas and expertise and ensure everyone is heard. It's hard work but ultimately our goal is to find an agreeable path forward. Working together isn't always quick or easy, but we're fine with that that. We're in this for the long-haul—championing the progress that keeps Harney County moving forward. We are proud that what we achieve together not only betters our communities, but creates positive change that stretches far beyond the sagebrush.

06/04/2026

Through our conversations with Maranda Calkins of CASA of Eastern Oregon, Brandy Branstetter of the High Desert Park & Recreation District, and Kate Marsh of the Community Support Foundation of Harney County, we’ve learned what funding from the Civic Experiment Grant program has meant to their projects—and the communities they serve.

From free swim lessons and youth programming to arts and cultural opportunities, these grants are helping local ideas become real experiences for people across Harney County.

We asked each grantee a simple question: What does support from this grant make possible?

Their answers are a reminder that when communities have the resources to invest in themselves, meaningful things can happen.


This month, Harney County Food Systems Coordinator Kellie Frank and High Desert Partnership Executive Director Brenda Sm...
06/01/2026

This month, Harney County Food Systems Coordinator Kellie Frank and High Desert Partnership Executive Director Brenda Smith are headed to Montana for the , a gathering centered around regenerative agriculture, land stewardship, food systems, and the future of the rural West.⁠
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On day three of the festival, Brenda will join the panel "Citizens of the Land" alongside Cory Carman and Jon Alexander to explore an important question: What if real change happens when people act as participants, not spectators?⁠
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The conversation will examine how rural communities and working lands can model a citizen ethic rooted in stewardship, responsibility, and connection to place.⁠
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We're proud to see Harney County represented in conversations like these and look forward to the ideas, relationships, and inspiration that will travel back home.⁠
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05/29/2026

🤝 Harney Basin Wetlands Restoration Tour: Ashley Tunstall, Part II

Sometimes a restoration project comes down to a single crossing.

In this clip, Ashley Tunstall of explains how replacing an undersized culvert can make a big difference for fish passage, water movement, wetland function, and farming.

While these projects may seem small on their own, they’re part of a larger effort to reconnect habitats across the Harney Basin and support healthier ecosystems for fish, wildlife, and birds.

It’s a reminder that meaningful restoration often happens one project—and one partnership—at a time.




05/27/2026

Meet three of this year’s Civic Experiment Grant recipients.

Last month, we sat down with Maranda Calkins of CASA of Eastern Oregon, Brandy Branstetter of High Desert Park and Recreation District, and Kate Marsh of the Community Support Foundation of Harney County to hear more about what they’re helping bring to Harney County this summer.

Through grant funding from the Trust for Civic Life initiative, their community-driven projects are creating more opportunities for local youth and families to gather, participate, and feel connected.

Listen to Maranda, Brandy, and Kate as they introduce their projects:

🤝 CASA of Harney County’s family-centered community events
🏊‍♀️ Making Waves: free swim lessons for our community
🎨 Frontier Art Center’s youth art programming

Each project looks a little different, but all three are rooted in the same idea: when barriers are reduced, more people can take part in community life.

More grantee conversations coming soon.


Earlier this year, seven community-led projects across Harney County were selected to receive Civic Experiment Grants th...
05/23/2026

Earlier this year, seven community-led projects across Harney County were selected to receive Civic Experiment Grants through the Trust for Civic Life initiative.

Chosen by community volunteers from 15 applicants, these projects will help bring more youth programs, cultural events, creative opportunities, and welcoming community gatherings to Harney County throughout 2026.

From free swim lessons and children’s theater to art enrichment, community concerts, family events, and youth-centered play days, each project shares a common goal: reducing barriers and creating more ways for people to gather, participate, and feel connected.

As Denise Rose, Youth Changing the Community Collaborative Coordinator, shared: “When local organizations create welcoming spaces for people to gather, learn, and contribute, the whole community benefits.”

Congratulations to this year’s grantees:

- Making Waves: Free Swim Lessons for Our Community
- Harney County Library Foundation
- Harney County Arts in Education Foundation
- Burns High School
- Frontier Art Center
- CASA of Harney County
- Kids Club of Harney County

Last month we sat down with three of the grantees—Maranda Calkins of CASA of Eastern Oregon, High Desert Park and Recreation District Manager Brandy Branstetter, and the President of the Community Support Foundation of Harney County, Kate Marsh.

We’re excited to share more about these projects, and the people behind them, in the weeks ahead.


05/18/2026

🤝 Harney Basin Wetlands Restoration Tour: Ashley Tunstall, Part I

Restoration work is often years in the making.

During the Harney Basin Wetlands Restoration Tour—hosted as part of the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival last month—Ashley Tunstall of offered a closer look at the planning, partnership, and persistence behind projects that help a whole system function better.

In the Harney Basin and beyond, restoration is never just one project. It’s connected work, carried forward by many hands.

Stay tuned for part two of Ashley’s talk, coming this week.




Last week, the High Desert Partnership team traveled to Portland to connect with partners, funders, and collaborators—an...
05/14/2026

Last week, the High Desert Partnership team traveled to Portland to connect with partners, funders, and collaborators—and to see the work of the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative represented inside the new Natural Sciences Hall .

Watching Stewarding Shared Water play on a museum screen in the heart of Portland was a powerful reminder that collaborative, place-based work in rural communities matters far beyond county lines.

The trip also included time in Portland’s Albina neighborhood with JT Flowers of , where conversations around place, displacement, and local voice revealed unexpected parallels between urban and rural communities.

“We both live in a desert,” JT shared. “Ours is concrete, yours is sagebrush.”

While the landscapes may look entirely different, both communities know what it feels like to be overlooked, shaped by outside decisions, and asked to fight to retain identity, history, and voice.

The places may be different. The need for trust, relationship, and community-led solutions is not.


05/12/2026

👋 Experiencing Harney County: Voices from the Field

What makes the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival special isn’t only the birds, the wetlands, or the wide-open places that bring people here.

It’s also the people.

After this year’s festival, Dotty shared a note with Josey from High Desert Partnership that reminded us how meaningful simple moments of welcome can be:

“Seeing birds and their habitats was part of the wonderful festival and meeting you and all who participated was the other terrific half.”

That’s the heart of this work.

When people come to Harney County, they don’t just learn about birds, habitat, and collaborative restoration. They meet the people who care deeply for this place—and who are helping others understand why it matters.

Thank you, Dotty, for being part of this year’s and for reminding us that connection is one of the most powerful parts of collaboration.


💧 What does wetland restoration look like on the ground?Last month’s Harney Basin Wetlands Restoration Tour—hosted durin...
05/06/2026

💧 What does wetland restoration look like on the ground?

Last month’s Harney Basin Wetlands Restoration Tour—hosted during the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival—offered a closer look.

From the Silvies floodplain to the Dunn Dam project at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge—and a stop at Sweek Dam with landowner Chuck Lind—community members spent the afternoon learning how restoration takes shape across both public and private lands.

This work is about more than water—it’s about the health of the whole system.

Led by partners from Ducks Unlimited and the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative, the tour highlighted years of behind-the-scenes collaboration—along with hands-on efforts like fish and mussel rescues, infrastructure improvements, and ongoing habitat restoration.

Hearing directly from landowners like Chuck underscored an essential piece of this work: lasting impact happens when local knowledge, stewardship, and partnership come together.

Collaboration is what makes this scale of work possible.

These projects support not only the ecosystem, but the people and livelihoods connected to it—strengthening both the landscape and the community over time.

Thanks to everyone who joined us to learn, ask questions, and see this work firsthand.

Turbid water might sound like a small detail—but in places like Malheur Lake, it shapes everything.⁠⁠When water clears, ...
05/01/2026

Turbid water might sound like a small detail—but in places like Malheur Lake, it shapes everything.⁠
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When water clears, light reaches the lakebed. When light reaches the lakebed, plants grow. And when plants grow, birds have the fuel they need to continue one of the longest migrations on earth.⁠
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“Flocculation temporarily decreased turbidity by more than 90% and increased light in the water column by more than 400%,” said Casie Smith, ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.⁠
But just as important: understanding what doesn’t work is part of the process, too.⁠
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“This is why we do these types of pilot restoration studies,” Smith shared. “We want to test these approaches before a lot of resources are invested in them.”⁠
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This is what collaboration looks like in practice—partners across the Harney Basin coming together to test ideas, learn quickly, and build toward long-term habitat health. From carp removal to controlled studies in the lake, each step helps us better understand how to support a system that millions of birds—and our local economy—depend on.⁠
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Because protecting a place like Malheur Lake isn’t one solution—it’s ongoing, shared learning.⁠
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Read more at the link in bio.⁠
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Photo credit: Brandon McMullen
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235 Highway 20 North
Hines, OR
97720

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(541) 573-7820

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