Harney Soil & Water Conservation District

Harney Soil & Water Conservation District is a U.S. local government entity based in Hines, Oregon, with a mission to conserve, protect, and develop soil, water, and related resources for the environmental and economic benefit of Harney County residents. The organization is registered in SAM.gov and maintains current federal eligibility, with SAM registration expiring in May 2026. As a prime recipient of federal grant awards, Harney Soil & Water Conservation District provides natural resource management, conservation planning, and ecosystem restoration services across eastern Oregon's sagebrush-steppe and riparian landscapes, partnering closely with federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deliver conservation outcomes on public and private lands.

The district's federal grant portfolio encompasses four prime cooperative agreements focused on habitat restoration, wildfire mitigation, and invasive species management. Most recently, the district secured a five-year wildlife resource management program award (September 2025–September 2030) in partnership with the BLM Burns District to restore and enhance habitat for beaver, mule deer, and big game species through wetland and riparian restoration, conifer encroachment reduction, and invasive species control across landscapes in eastern Oregon. Additionally, the district manages an emergency stabilization and rehabilitation grant (July 2023–July 2027) addressing post-wildfire recovery through aerial seeding, fence repair, hazard tree removal, and cultural clearances. An integrated weed management cooperative agreement (July 2022–July 2025) focused on controlling undesirable plant species in coordination with BLM, and a landscape-scale sage-grouse habitat conservation initiative (July 2022–September 2027) through the Oregon All Counties Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances partnership, which involves multiple soil and water conservation districts, the Powder Basin Watershed Council, USFWS, and private landowners to reduce wildfire risk, treat invasive grasses, address juniper encroachment, and enhance sagebrush-steppe rangelands. The district has also received federal sub-grant awards, including planning and implementation support for conservation programs through Pheasants Forever, Inc. (October 2023) and joint administrative assistance funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (May 2021) in partnership with NRCS. All four prime cooperative agreements are funded through either the Oregon-Washington Region office or DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1.