Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge: IBA of the Month
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge Important Bird Area
by Mary Coolidge
My first climb of Hart Mountain is in memory like a haunting melody. This is an exotic ridge, different from any I have known…Here is a vast expanse of dry, windblown land that to the untrained eye paints a picture of desolation.
--William O. Douglas, US Supreme Court Justice, in My Wilderness, 1960
- Hart Mountain - Marilyn Stinett
Sixty-five miles from the nearest major town, Hart Mountain’s western ridge rises 3,000 feet out of the surrounding expanse of desert, a looming 30-mile rimrock escarpment stretching from Warner Peak north to Poker Jim Ridge in Lake County. From this ragged rise, the land descends gently to the east. The visitor’s western approach to this isolated and rugged 278,000-acre refuge was aptly described (above) by William O. Douglas, the 36-year Supreme Court Justice who dedicated himself to a lifelong personal exploration of wilderness and advocated for its conservation.
- Hart Mountain Aspens - Don Baccus
Hart Mountain is arguably as iconic as neighboring Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and Steens Mountain, and was established in the 1936 by Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide habitat for Pronghorn Antelope, “sage hen” (Greater Sage Grouse), and other sagebrush obligates. Pronghorns here number as many as 1,900 today, many of which spend spring and summer at Hart and migrate 20 miles south to winter at Sheldon NWR in northwestern Nevada. Some 300 wildlife species have been documented using the richly diverse landscape of the refuge, including California bighorn sheep, mule deer, sagebrush lizard, and redband trout. Hart Mountain contains some of the most extensive and high-quality sage steppe habitat in Oregon, laced with both dry and wet upland meadows, riparian habitat of aspen and willow, mixed deciduous shrub habitat, and snowpocket Aspen stands.
The removal of cattle from the high desert riparian habitat on Hart Mountain in 1994 may be the primary contribution to an increase in measured avian abundance, and today it is one of the largest wildlife areas in the arid west that hosts no cattle and is relatively feral horse-free. The livestock grazing exclusion allowed USFWS and Oregon Natural Desert Association volunteers to remove hundreds of miles of fence line to allow for unrestricted movement of wildlife. Hart Mountain is due for an updated management plan, but their Comprehensive Conservation Planning process is likely to be delayed for a year or two. This is a refuge in remarkably good shape, thought management challenges do exist, including potential development on privately owned in-holdings, recreation management, and staff shortages.
Douglas’ writings on Hart Mountain conclude with faith in the immeasurable value of land conservation. Upon leaving Hart Mountain, he writes: “after I travel a few hours and turn to see its great bulk against a southern sky my heart rejoices. This refuge will leave our grandsons and granddaughters an inheritance of the wilderness that no dollars could recreate. Here they will find life teeming throughout all the life zones that lead from the desert to alpine meadows.”
Ornithological Significance
Hart Mountain was designated as one of Oregon’s 97 Important Bird Areas in 2003 for Greater Sage Grouse, and today nearly the whole of Hart Mountain is encompassed within the Sage Grouse Core Area identified by ODFW. ODFW’s goal is to provide recommendations for protection of essential habitat in order to preclude Endangered Species Act-listing. USFWS’ recent finding that the Greater Sage Grouse listing is “Warranted but Precluded” reflects the decline in this species’ population and a shortage of funding to manage a growing list of species nationwide whose populations are slipping precipitously.
Stanley Jewitt’s bird list of the area published in 1940 named 120 species, and now 239 species have been recorded, including: Short-eared Owl, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Common Nighthawk, Horned Lark, Common Raven, Vesper Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Cassin’s Finch, Sage Thrasher, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Great Horned Owl, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Common Poorwill, Western Wood Pewee, Chipping Sparrow, Gray Flycatcher, Bushtit, Townsend’s Solitaire, Western Meadowlark, Lazuli Bunting, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Rough-legged Hawk, and American Kestrel. Blue Sky Hotel, an isolated stand of Ponderosa Pine and riparian habitat, has been the site of some rare sightings on the refuge during spring migration including: Summer Tanager, Flammulated Owl, Least Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, American Redstart and Red-eyed Vireo.
If you go
From Lakeview (where the NWR complex office is located in the Post Office Building), take US-395 north. Head right on OR-140 east for 19 miles, and left at refuge sign through Plush. Right at sign to refuge. The climb up Hart Mountain’s western escarpment affords a sweeping view of the Warner Valley Important Bird Area below.
From Malheur NWR, head west from Frenchglen on a 36-mile gravel road.
For more information, contact:
Sheldon-Hart Mountain NWR
Post Office Box 111
Lakeview, OR 97630
541-947-3315
