Malheur Wildlife Refuge 'n Ranching

~When I try not to say bad things about someone, I feel better.~

~Vera Loader 1872~

Participating in:

SkyWatch Friday

FarmGirl Friday Blog Hop

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The Malheur Wildlife Refuge is one of the highlights of Harney County in SE Oregon. There is an interesting mix of uses in the area since private ranches boarder the refuge and the water level goes up and down through the years. In the 1980's, homes were flooded so badly, that many gave up their land and moved to higher ground.

"Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established on August 18, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as the Lake Malheur Bird Reservation. Roosevelt set aside unclaimed lands encompassed by Malheur, Mud and Harney Lakes “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” The newly established “Lake Malheur Bird Reservation” was the 19th of 51 wildlife refuges created by Roosevelt during his tenure as president. At the time, Malheur was the third refuge in Oregon and one of only six refuges west of the Mississippi."

With regard to the flooding this year:

"Considering the amount of water remaining on Steens Mountain to the south and Snow Mountain to the north, the Refuge is predicting that Malheur Lake will increase in elevation to 4098 feet – a rise of 4.5 feet since the beginning of the year! At this elevation Malheur Lake will extend across 81,100 acres."

Standing at the southern end of Harney Lake looking north 

toward Burns Oregon, you can feel the amazing expanse of land

and water that the Wildlife Refuge encompasses.

In this "finger" of shoreline of Harney Lake you can see the fences
of a local rancher's field. Natural meadow grass is cut for dry hay
for cattle and then grazed in the fall.
It's questionable if they will get a hay crop this year.

The ol' tree at The Narrows stood for decades even though it was dead.
It finally gave in to Mother Nature a few weeks ago.
This location is where Harney Lake, Mud Lake
and Malheur Lake come together.

Have a great Friday and a super weekend!!