Overview of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Tulelake, California.  This view shows Tule Lake as well as Gillems Bluff, a lava rim that runs north/south from the Oregon/California state line to Lava Beds National Monument.  Normally there is water w/ millions of migratory birds however the Klamath Basin has been in extreme drought for nearly two years now, drying up everything in sight except for a small sliver of the lake a few miles away.  Here in February the lake bed is bone dry, a sight I've never seen before.  In the past when Modoc Indians lived here, the entire basin was a lake where water & food was abundant.  The current lack of water for the region has one again ignited a dispute b/w ranchers & farmers who need water for irrigation & the Klamath Tribes for protective fish species.

Tule Lake is one of 20 listed lakes on Wikipedia classified as an ancient lake.  The lake is considered ancient if it is 1,000,000 years old or older.  It is ranked as #9 b/w 3-15 million years of age.  From this photo the lake is almost entirely gone.