- The Desert Unit was wholly desert prior to the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project. It is the lowest part of the very large Quincy Basin that once was filled with glacial floodwater. The natural basin now serves as a collector for irrigation water from upslope farmlands. Most of this water is collected in the Winchester and Frenchman Hills wasteways, which meander southeasterly across several miles of the Desert Unit and eventually empty into the southwestern part of Potholes Reservoir.
- Linus Pauling (Wikipedia)
Linus Carl Pauling FRS (/ˈpɔːlɪŋ/ PAW-ling; February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. New Scientist called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time. For his scientific work, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. For his peace activism, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. He is one of five people to have won more than one Nobel Prize (the others being Marie Curie, John Bardeen, Frederick Sanger, and Karl Barry Sharpless). Of these, he is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes, and one of two people to be awarded Nobel Prizes in different fields, the other being Marie Curie.
- Columbia Basin Wildlife Area (wdfw.wa.gov)
The Columbia Basin Wildlife Area is located in Grant County and Adams County, and includes approximately 160,100 acres thoughout units spanning the “Big Bend” of the Columbia River. Although managed by WDFW, most of these lands are owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) or other federal and state agencies. Many of the wildlife area’s units were acquired as mitigation for habitat inundation caused by Columbia River dams. These units provide habitat for numerous wetland dependent wildlife species, such as migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, as well as upland game birds. Northern leopard frogs, sagebrush lizards, Columbia River tiger beetles, burrowing owls, golden eagles, loggerhead shrikes, sage sparrows, sage thrashers, western grebes, black-tailed jack rabbits, striped whipsnakes, and Washington ground squirrels can be found on most of the units. By actively managing lands, restoring habitats, and preserving wild places, the department serves as stewards for Washington’s natural places, protecting the state’s land and water for its human and wildlife populations.