Mastodon fossil makes appearance at Grant PUD commission meeting

EPHRATA — The fossil found in the Hanford Reach of an extinct ancestor to the elephant will be on display at the Wanapum Heritage Center near Wanapum Dam for six months. The section of the jaw of a mastodon was displayed for Grant County PUD commissioners at the regular meeting Tuesday. “Now for some fun. Show and tell time,” said PUD Manager of Cultural Resources Brett Lenz, opening up a backpack he had stored under the table, according to a release from public information officer Christine Pratt. “(Lenz) reached inside and withdrew part of the toothy jawbone section of a Ringold mastodon, approximately 6 million years old,” Pratt wrote. “He set it on the table as commissioners and a few staff in the room gathered around, awestruck and fascinated.”