Sandhill Crane Festival draws thousands to Basin

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OTHELLO - The annual spring migration of Sandhill Cranes through Othello draws bird enthusiasts from around the country, as well as from around the world.

Dixie Fultz, chair of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, said an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people attend the festival's lectures and tours each year. And judging by the amount of people Fultz saw this year, she said the 2013 crane festival was no different.

Thousands of people attended the three-day festival which started Friday and ran through Sunday, she said. Participants went on birding and other wildlife tours as well as attended various environmental lectures.

The festival also accommodates children, she said, and this year's younger participants were able to learn about bird watching and bird migration through various activities.

"We're sort of known as the premiere bird-watching event," said Fultz. "We've had people pre-register from Wyoming, as well as all the way from Ireland this year."

She said Basin residents only make up about 10 to 15 percent of festival attendees.

"So people are coming from far away, and that does a lot for the Basin," said Fultz.

She said festival participants spend an estimated $35,000 at Basin establishments each year. Guests stay at hotels, eat at restaurants and visit local businesses during the festival, said Fultz.

While the festival is in Othello, attendees also find lodging in Moses Lake and other communities in the Basin.

"This helps tourism in the area," she said.

Fultz said the sandhill cranes travel through Othello twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. However, the festival is held each spring, since more cranes come during that time, she said.

The cranes first started coming to the area about 20 years ago, said Fultz.

"There was a change in crop, it's the corn and the wheat that bring them," she said.

This is the festival's sixteenth year, said Fultz.