Mission Statement

The mission of the Oregon Rangeland Trust is to help Oregon ranch and farm families protect and preserve the long-term viability of their ecologically significant private lands. The conservation of lands for agricultural production, natural habitats, and open spaces will nourish the spirit of the West and its values for future generations.

General Information and History

The Oregon Rangeland Trust (ORT), a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation, was established in October 2001 and formally organized in March of 2002.  Created by a vote of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, the Oregon Rangeland Trust is aligned with that organization but not a formal part of the cattlemen’s association.  The ORT volunteer board of directors, a majority of which must be beef producers, are all members of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. 

In February of 2003 the board members met for three days to develop a strategic plan and a fund-raising plan and to fine-tune goals for the organization, facilitated by an experienced consultant, Marc Smiley. Those plans are currently under review and will be updated as conditions dictate.

Initial funding was provided by The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which awarded ORT a matching-funds grant that made possible the planning session and resulting materials, production of a brochure, additional fund-raising efforts and the hiring of an Executive Director effective January 1, 2006.

Working with the ranch landowners and The Trust for Public Land, ORT’s first conservation project was finalized in June 2004 when it became the holder of a conservation easement on an 11,400-acre ranch in Lake County, Oregon.  The purchase of the easement was funded by the Natural Resource Conservation Service Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and by the donation of a portion of the easement value by the landowners.  A monitoring fund is in place to enforce the terms of the conservation easement.

Board members and volunteers working with ORT have actively participated in conferences and meetings such as the Land Trust Alliance Rally, One Thousand Friends of Oregon meetings, Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts , Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, Chelan-Douglas Counties’ “Building a Vision” 2004, the Rules Advisory Committee for the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Land Acquisition program and other meetings that have added to their knowledge of land-use and land trust issues.  Participation has been as presenters and as attendees.

ORT has established working relationships with a number of organizations involved in land conservation including The Trust for Public Land, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, OWEB, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Sustainable Northwest, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited, the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, the California Rangeland Trust, and others.

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