Successful implementation of the malheur national wildlife refuge conservation plan requires coordination and collaboration with private landowners, conservation partners, and other interested…

Successful implementation of the malheur national wildlife refuge conservation plan requires coordination and collaboration with private landowners, conservation partners, and other interested stakeholders to generate the public and private investment needed to implement conservation strategies on the refuge as well as on a basin-wide scale. The high desert partnership is a community-based organization working to foster collaborative approaches for solving challenging issues and building ecological sustainability, economic well-being, and social vitality within the harney basin in southeast oregon. High desert partnership has been working with refuge staff and other partners to lay the foundations for a basin-wide habitat conservation collaborative since 2012.the high desert partnership will assist the refuge with implementation of the comprehensive conservation through a basin-wide coalition of partners and stakeholders. The refuge and the HDP work collaboratively on the harney basin wetland collaborative. These funds will be used for operation and administration of the high desert partnership in support of this collaborative. Specifically, funds will be used to facilitate wetland research and ecological monitoring ongoing in harney basin watersheds, to provide services such as logistical and facilitation support for meetings and workshops, to provide communication and outreach services, and to provide management oversight and personnel for implementation of wetland conservation projects on public and private wetlands. The collaboration between the refuge and high desert partnership provides information needed to restore and maintain wetlands vital to migratory birds and to sustain meadow irrigation practices on public lands and private ranches.