INDEPENDENT STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
Oregon Natural Desert Association's Independent Stewardship Program (ISP) offers self-guided stewardship projects for volunteers looking to get out on their own and contribute to critical projects to support healthy desert habitats in Oregon's high desert.
Overview
Project: ISP Program Design
Scope: The onset of the global pandemic in 2020 disrupted ONDA’s traditional model of leading group volunteer trips for stewardship in eastern Oregon’s high desert, forcing the cancellation of all planned trips. As a result, ONDA pivoted to focus on its Independent Stewards program; I redesigned it to be more impactful and effective in the absence of in-person training and education opportunities.
Project Details
Process: I worked with the ONDA stewardship team to collaborate with conservation and legal staff to identify and prioritize over 40 potential projects, eventually narrowing them down to 20. We researched and implemented different mapping and data collection apps for volunteer use, and worked with the Oregon BLM to create custom assessments using Colorado Mountain Club's Recreation Impact Monitoring System app for real-time data sharing with the agency. I developed a comprehensive framework that included project-specific webpages, training videos, safety information, and interactive maps. Automation was emphasized to ensure scalability and utilized web-based reporting forms to efficiently gather necessary information.
Impact: In the first four years of the new program volunteers contributed over 6,250 hours to desert restoration and monitoring projects. View a story map I designed of accomplishments from the first two years of the program.
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Watch: View a presentation I gave at the Wilderness Stewardship Alliance Conference in 2021 about the Independent Stewards Program.
Testimonials
"Using geospatial data, I mapped each of more than 430 images [ISP volunteers took along the North Fork of the Malheur River for an Independent Stewards Project] and identified and highlighted photos that might show potential impacts to bull trout from grazing use, bank erosion or other factors, as well as photos that showed places where removal of livestock has allowed streams to recover. This work will support ONDA’s continued work for bull trout in this watershed. "
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Lily Pifferini-Carter
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