Preserving the Speedsters of the Sagebrush Sea
Written by Karl Findling
Written by Karl Findling
No other animal in North America can match the speed of the American pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana), which has been recorded at bursts of 55 mph. The Antilocapridae are a family of artiodactyls endemic to North America. Their closest extant relatives are the giraffids with which they comprise the superfamily Giraffoidea. Only one species of Antilocapridae, the pronghorn, is living today; all other members of the family are extinct. While it’s called an antelope, zoologically it is not closely related to the true antelope of the Old World.
The pronghorn’s natural range once extended from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Today, with more than 2,000 pronghorns, Oregon’s 422-square-mile Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is just the place to lay eyes on abundant herds of these speedsters. Besides antelope, mule deer, California (desert) bighorn sheep, and the greater sage grouse are all iconic to the sagebrush steppe landscape that is popularly known as the “Sagebrush Sea.” The Hart-Sheldon refuge complex is home to 859 species of plants, 391 species of vertebrates, and 297 invertebrates.
In pre-refuge days, from the mid-1800s to approximately 1930, unregulated market hunting reduced total North American pronghorn numbers from 20 million to less than 20,000 animals, and intensive grazing by cattle, sheep and horses was a heavy burden on the High Desert landscape. Today, there are approximately 1 million pronghorns.
Grazing intensity peaked about 1907. Concerns were mounting by the 1920s, and northwest Nevada and southeast Oregon were recognized as areas important for pronghorn. Originally, the Boone and Crockett Club (a hunting/conservation organization), and the National Audubon Society purchased a ranch in northwestern Nevada—ironically named the Last Chance Ranch—that became the nucleus for an antelope refuge, and early on was managed by the USDA Bureau of Biological Survey (now the US Fish and Wildlife Service).
Presidential Executive Order 5540, in 1931, preserved the first 31,0000 acres, designating Charles Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. Mid-1934, the Taylor Grazing Act (43 USC Ch. 8A), changed the demands on public land, and cattle became the predominant force, with sheep and horses less so, in the region. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the designation and protections pronghorn needed. Sheldon first, then Hart Mountain: the two became a complex, jointly managed from 1936 to 1976, by the Bureau of Land Management and USFWS.
Under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the Congressionally-mandated, strong and singular mission is “Wildlife First”—to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Refuges operate under comprehensive conservation plans which provide management direction over a 15-year period. Any use must first be found “compatible” with the purpose of the refuge and the mission of the system: biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health. The “Big Six” priority public uses are to be allowed if compatible. The “Big Six” are: hunting, fishing, wildlife photography, wildlife observation, environmental interpretation, and environmental education. All six take place at Hart.
Like many federal lands in the West, other uses were prevalent in the Hart-Sheldon complex at various levels during the area’s first half-century—most prominently, grazing, though parts of the refuges were restricted to wildlife under various acts of Congress and subsequent management schemes. The pivotal years for Hart-Sheldon came in the early 1990s, when severe drought hit the region. Grazing was curtailed for a number of years, until 1994, when grazing was ended outright. The resulting 1994 Comprehensive Conservation Plan, an 839-page document, is a living guideline. Although intended to be renewed every 15 years, the ’94 CCP is still the management plan today.
Shortly after livestock removal, the Mellon Foundation and Conservation Fund purchased all grazing permit privileges from willing sellers, and the privileges were donated to the FWS and permanently retired. This opened up the refuge to an enormous scientific opportunity. After 1994, researchers had a unique starting point—and a 15-year window of opportunity to evaluate the landscape, free of livestock. Scientists from around the globe have made it to Hart, and it has been a research hot spot now for nearly 30 years. Climate records, photographic records and dozens upon dozens of academic studies have shown the Hart-Sheldon region to be resilient. Many archived resources and academic articles have documented an amazing array of conditions, and possibilities.
The future is somewhat uncertain with climate change and fire, as those two factors present significant challenges that lie ahead. The largest fire in the history of Hart was the 2019 Poker Jim fire, at 29,400 acres, on the northern boundary and primarily in phase two (recent growth) juniper. High winds were a critical factor in the fire’s rapid spread. Only two other fires are notable; in 2013, near upper Guano Creek; and the 2017 Rock Creek fire, neither exceeding 1000 acres.
Today the Greater Hart-Sheldon region, is recognized as a rare gem of the High Desert. Special animals deserve a special home!
The pronghorn’s natural range once extended from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Today, with more than 2,000 pronghorns, Oregon’s 422-square-mile Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is just the place to lay eyes on abundant herds of these speedsters. Besides antelope, mule deer, California (desert) bighorn sheep, and the greater sage grouse are all iconic to the sagebrush steppe landscape that is popularly known as the “Sagebrush Sea.” The Hart-Sheldon refuge complex is home to 859 species of plants, 391 species of vertebrates, and 297 invertebrates.
In pre-refuge days, from the mid-1800s to approximately 1930, unregulated market hunting reduced total North American pronghorn numbers from 20 million to less than 20,000 animals, and intensive grazing by cattle, sheep and horses was a heavy burden on the High Desert landscape. Today, there are approximately 1 million pronghorns.
Grazing intensity peaked about 1907. Concerns were mounting by the 1920s, and northwest Nevada and southeast Oregon were recognized as areas important for pronghorn. Originally, the Boone and Crockett Club (a hunting/conservation organization), and the National Audubon Society purchased a ranch in northwestern Nevada—ironically named the Last Chance Ranch—that became the nucleus for an antelope refuge, and early on was managed by the USDA Bureau of Biological Survey (now the US Fish and Wildlife Service).
Presidential Executive Order 5540, in 1931, preserved the first 31,0000 acres, designating Charles Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. Mid-1934, the Taylor Grazing Act (43 USC Ch. 8A), changed the demands on public land, and cattle became the predominant force, with sheep and horses less so, in the region. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the designation and protections pronghorn needed. Sheldon first, then Hart Mountain: the two became a complex, jointly managed from 1936 to 1976, by the Bureau of Land Management and USFWS.
Under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the Congressionally-mandated, strong and singular mission is “Wildlife First”—to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Refuges operate under comprehensive conservation plans which provide management direction over a 15-year period. Any use must first be found “compatible” with the purpose of the refuge and the mission of the system: biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health. The “Big Six” priority public uses are to be allowed if compatible. The “Big Six” are: hunting, fishing, wildlife photography, wildlife observation, environmental interpretation, and environmental education. All six take place at Hart.
Like many federal lands in the West, other uses were prevalent in the Hart-Sheldon complex at various levels during the area’s first half-century—most prominently, grazing, though parts of the refuges were restricted to wildlife under various acts of Congress and subsequent management schemes. The pivotal years for Hart-Sheldon came in the early 1990s, when severe drought hit the region. Grazing was curtailed for a number of years, until 1994, when grazing was ended outright. The resulting 1994 Comprehensive Conservation Plan, an 839-page document, is a living guideline. Although intended to be renewed every 15 years, the ’94 CCP is still the management plan today.
Shortly after livestock removal, the Mellon Foundation and Conservation Fund purchased all grazing permit privileges from willing sellers, and the privileges were donated to the FWS and permanently retired. This opened up the refuge to an enormous scientific opportunity. After 1994, researchers had a unique starting point—and a 15-year window of opportunity to evaluate the landscape, free of livestock. Scientists from around the globe have made it to Hart, and it has been a research hot spot now for nearly 30 years. Climate records, photographic records and dozens upon dozens of academic studies have shown the Hart-Sheldon region to be resilient. Many archived resources and academic articles have documented an amazing array of conditions, and possibilities.
The future is somewhat uncertain with climate change and fire, as those two factors present significant challenges that lie ahead. The largest fire in the history of Hart was the 2019 Poker Jim fire, at 29,400 acres, on the northern boundary and primarily in phase two (recent growth) juniper. High winds were a critical factor in the fire’s rapid spread. Only two other fires are notable; in 2013, near upper Guano Creek; and the 2017 Rock Creek fire, neither exceeding 1000 acres.
Today the Greater Hart-Sheldon region, is recognized as a rare gem of the High Desert. Special animals deserve a special home!