As travel and outdoor activity increases in Oregon’s high desert, Land Trust Board President John Sterling assists in balancing recreation and conservation efforts in Oregon. There are serious concerns about impacts in these special places, but adventures in them can contribute to conservation.
As seasons shift, so do plans for outdoor activities. Many people will trade their skis and snowshoes this spring for bikes and hiking boots, or other gear that helps them get out to the water, woods or desert. John Sterling is one of them. Though active throughout the year, John agrees spring is the perfect time to get outdoors and to become more involved in protecting the special places we cherish. You can take extra care on or off the trail by carefully choosing areas, learning best practices, sharing them with others, or joining groups that safeguard special places.
“There are limits to everything, of course, but if you want more people to care about wild places they need to have a personal connection to them. Recreation can be a great conveyor belt to increase engagement in conservation,” said John.
He’s seen this happen and has experienced it himself. Recreation is part of why he’s lived in Bend for 20 years, after visiting with family since the 1970s. Whether running, climbing, cycling, or, you name it, John’s exploring of the outdoors brought him a sense of freedom. It evolved into a sense of responsibility to be a steward of the lands that have given him, and others, so much.
John also knows that volunteering and donating to local causes can further connect people to the places they enjoy, as well as ones they may never visit. He first recognized this overlap between recreation and conservation while working for a nonprofit after college and getting to know David Brower, the Sierra Club’s first executive director and an icon of the conservation movement.
“Dave became a role model for how people could go to these wild places for mental clarity or to experience awe, as well as take risks and challenge themselves. He demonstrated how to come back to daily life and reflect on the lessons learned from being out there and pushing personal limits,” expressed John. “That’s what Dave did for his whole career and he’s considered one of our foundational conservationists. From then on, I understood there was a really important connection between getting out in the outdoors and working to save those places.”
Recreationists can become conservationists
For John, working at Patagonia became a great fusion of these values. He later spent 17 years as the executive director of the Conservation Alliance, a group of outdoor industry companies that work together to fund and partner with organizations that protect North America’s wild places. He volunteered for other nonprofits throughout that time, and felt it was an organic transition to join the Land Trust board when we started in 2017. John continues to assist with partnerships, financials, and strategic planning. Though an outdoor enthusiast, his priorities on wildlife conservation and cultural preservation assist us in managing land for wildlife and people.
“We have some great properties at ODLT and it’s our mission to preserve those, primarily for sage-grouse and other wildlife, and for the plant community, and climate change adaptation. The last thing we want to do is blow it on recreation, but at the same time, we have some very special lands that can support some appropriate outdoor recreation use. It’s on us to get ahead of the demand and identify where it’s appropriate,” John explained.
“These were all lands that were originally inhabited by Native people and there are signs of that all over these landscapes, so either picking up a piece of pottery or arrowhead, or in other places, climbing over pictographs and petroglyphs, can all be damaging and disrespectful. You have to be sensitive, and a lot of people haven’t been exposed to those lessons until now.”
If you’ve lived in Oregon for more than five or ten years, you’ve likely seen an increase in traffic on and off the road. Trails that were mildly traveled and once elusive have become hotspots through social media and the influx of new residents. The Land Trust works to balance these demands without compromising conservation needs. Many of our properties are accessible by the public, but are rustic areas that don’t have established trails or facilities.
“Recreation is something we need to plan carefully for. What we’ve noticed since the pandemic is that there’s an absolute hunger among people to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and that’s a good thing,” said John. “We want people to get out from their computer screens and be fit and exploring, but there are so many of us that we really do need to plan that recreation activity in such a way that it doesn’t degrade the land we are working to protect.”
The high desert offers many ways for people to enjoy the outdoors responsibly and respectfully. You can go out on your own to exercise, observe, or self reflect, or enjoy the space with others. John likes to really sink into a place for four or five days, especially in the solitude and expansiveness of eastern Oregon landscapes. He feels it has a more subtle beauty in which you can find something on your own terms, instead of someone in a guidebook telling you where to go and what to see. For him, recreation is also about friends and relationships and having those experiences one on one. John hopes your next visit to the desert, or simply hearing someone share their stories about it, will inspire you to support conservation in Oregon’s high desert.
Feature image of Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area in Malheur County, OR — David Kessner
Learn More
- While you travel across Oregon, Take Care Out There.
- Listen to an interview with John Sterling (“The Balance of Recreation and Conservation”) on Dirty Free Hub’s The DF Connection podcast.
- Watch Patagonia’s animation with Wilson Wewa telling the story of The Battle of Coyote and Nuwuzo’ho about the area known as Smith Rock.