It wasn’t long ago that the cows, the corn, or the Sandhill Cranes in this picture wouldn’t have been seen together. Last week was the 13th annual Sandhill Crane Festival in Othello, Washington. When I heard about the festival, my first question was, “Othello where?” Well it turns out that every year around this time, Sandhill Cranes migrate from northern Mexico to northern Alaska, Canada and Siberia. Several thousand of them just happen to stop along the way in Othello. Sandhill Cranes are quite large, measuring almost four feet tall with a six foot wingspan. They are gorgeous, noisy and are noted for an eccentric dancing behavior, launching themselves six or seven feet off the ground with their wings half spread.  Their habitat includes tundra, shallow open wetlands and ponds, marshes, sloughs, grasslands, and the edges of fields. They like to feed in dry fields, especially on corn. But not many cranes were seen in the areas surrounding Othello prior to the Columbia Basin Project.
 
At one time the area immediately east of the Columbia River in the central part of Washington was quite arid. It was noted for bumper crops of sagebrush. That and some other desert plants were all that grew in the eight inches of rain the area received every year. It turns out the rainfall is still about the same now as it was then. The difference is the Columbia Basin Project, the largest water reclamation project in the U.S. (Wikipedia). I sometimes think arid or desert environments are barren or infertile, mistakenly believing the presence of water is all that is needed for productive agricultural land. However, the soil itself is an equally important factor. The good news for the Columbia River Valley is the Columbia basalt flows. These flood basalts (think lava here) cover sizeable portions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. These flows happened about 10-15 million years ago and covered the better part of a 63,000 square mile area with more than a 6,000 foot layer of the kind of rock that ultimately makes really good soil.  That takes some time of course, but Gaia, or Mother Earth,  seems to be patient when she’s making really good stuff. In fact, Othello lies in Grant County which claims to be the largest potato growing region in the world. They have a very large potato processing facility that makes all of MacDonald’s french fries, according to one of the local farmers who guided us around the festival. The number of french fries eaten in the U.S. may exceed the number of the national debt, although fry consumption is going down right now. Maybe that’s because the debt going up.
 

It appears Othello and its inhabitants are an interesting example of adaptive symbiosis. Before the Columbia Basin Project: no water, no farms, no corn fields, no cows (well maybe some range cattle), no marshes or wetlands, no Sandhill Cranes. What happened as a result of the project is seen in the photo: farms, cows, corn and cranes. The wetlands and marshes are off in the distance and were formed largely by water seepage from dams and irrigation canals. Oh, and birders and tourists of course are taking the photos. 
 
Like with many human projects, there can be benefits and there can be consequences. In the case of dam construction and irrigation projects on the Columbia, one species that has lost out is the salmon. According to a report from Oregon State University, “the premier stock of salmon has declined substantially since 1938, when Bonneville Dam made possible the counting of numbers of salmon traveling up the Columbia.” I’m happy for the cranes, and the farmers, and french fry consumers. But I am sad for the salmon and the fishers. I am most unhappy about our seeming inability to understand beforehand what the consequences of our actions might be. And this inability applies not only to our environment but to our social systems as well. Perhaps we are just an immoderate species after all, the proverbial bull in a china shop.  I suspect we can do better.
 
Sources: Wikipedia, Thayer Bird Guide