Pronghorn Antelope Thrive in Southeast Oregon

One of the last strongholds of pronghorn antelope is the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in Oregon’s high desert some 30 miles east of Lakeview. This is a home where the deer and the antelope play.
More than 30 million pronghorn once roamed North America, compared with 700,000 today.
Established in 1936 to provide range for the pronghorns, the refuge protects all wildlife and native plant species of the high desert, including sage grouse and California bighorn sheep.  The sheep died out by 1915 of diseases and excessive hunting. Reintroduced in 1954, they number several hundred today. The sage grouse are making a comeback at the refuge, but are declining elsewhere in Oregon.
Hart Mountain is a massive block of continental crust thrust millions of years ago by shifting geological plates to 3,600 feet above the Warner Valley floor. Its high point, Warner Peak, is 8,024 feet above sea level.
Pronghorn antelope are the fastest animals in North America, reaching nearly 60 mph.  Visitors who venture on unimproved dirt roads and trails of Hart Mountain and the surrounding high plateaus are sure to sight dozens of the cud-chewing animals racing effortlessly through the sage brush.
Sources:  Erickson, Scott. "Solitude and Space on Hart Mountain." Oregon Live - The Oregonian. 15 October 2015. Web. 17 May 2016. http://www.oregonlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2008/06/solitude_and_space_... ;"Hart Mountain.” Wikipedia. 1 May 2016. Web. 17 May 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Mountain ; "Hart  Mountain."  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2001). Web. 17 May 2016. < http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/hart/pdf/hartmtbrochure.pdf >.