Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge
Community spots & sessions in OR · on LutherHeggs
Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 to: (1) provide habitat for pronghorn, the primary species, and populations of native secondary species (e.g., mule deer, sage-grouse, and song birds) in such numbers as may be necessary to maintain a balanced wildlife population; (2) conserve listed endangered or threatened fish, wildlife, and plants; and (3) use as an inviolate migratory bird sanctuary. Today, the Refuge protects 572,896 acres of wildlife habitat in the northwestern corner of Nevada and is home to over 270 species of wildlife. The high desert is characterized by wide-open spaces and a variety of landforms. The two most common landforms include narrow canyons that empty into rolling valleys with no drainage outlets to the ocean, and broad flat tables that end abruptly in vertical cliffs. The elevations of these landforms range from a high of 7,294 feet on Catnip Mountain, to a low of approximately 4,200 feet on the northeastern boundary. The area generally decreases in altitude from west to east. The Refuge currently represents one of the last reasonably intact examples of a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem in the Great Basin. It provides a variety of critical habitats for a host of species endemic to sagebrush-steppe, including pronghorn, mule deer, greater sage-grouse, pygmy rabbit, migratory birds, desert fishes, and a range of rare plants and invertebrates.