Oregon may be best known for its rain-soaked western region, but two-thirds of the state is actually high desert, including some of the largest remaining wild areas in the Lower 48. Sadly, less than a quarter of the 13.4 million acres of publicly owned desert in Oregon have been granted official wilderness protection. Grist diarist Brent Fenty of the Oregon Natural Desert Association is working to change all that. Follow Fenty for a week as he fights the good fight grassroots-style, from teaching a class at the local community college to flying above it all as part of ONDA's Research and Rescue Project -- only on the Grist Magazine website.