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OCTOBER 12, 2000

Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt continues his dam busting tour today, taking part in bringing down the Matilija Dam in California.

Located in Ventura County, the 53-year-old dam is the largest in the world ever to come down. Babbitt will don safety gear and sit in a crane in order to help bring down the 200-foot dam.

The removal of the Matilija is part of an ongoing state and federal effort at habitat restoration. Last week, Babbitt participated in the removal of the 90-year-old Saeltzer Dam, also in California, and said bringing down the two dams is essential to environmental protection.

"The Saeltzer and Matilija Dams are among those structures that are crying out to come down because not only are they no longer needed to supply water, they pose major threats to steelhead and other fish and wildlife," said Babbitt. "Destruction of these dams will lead to the creation of newly restored watersheds."

Environmental activists have been calling for the removal of the Matilija in order to restore the Ventura River. The National Marine Fisheries Service once said the dam was preventing the recovery of endangered southern steelhead trout.

The river was also listed as one of the third most endangered by American Rivers, an environmental group. But removal of four dams on the most endangered river, the Lower Snake River in Washington, has been the source of controversy in the Clinton administration and in Congress.

The administration earlier this year said it would postpone any decision to remove the dams for several years if at all. Senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash) has adamantly opposed removal of the dams and attempted to include a measure in the Interior budget bill preventing the government from studying the issue next year.

Although Gorton eventually removed the provision, breaching is still a heated debate. Tribal leaders in the Northwest have called for removal of the dams in order to protect the endangered salmon and steelhead, which are vital to tribes in the region.

Tribes have also been critical of proposals by state and government agencies to restore salmon because they don't include provisions for dam removal. A candidate for Governor of Washington state, John Carlson, has also been criticized because his plan for recovery calls for an end to most tribal fishing.

Related Stories:
Report: Gorton can't read (Enviro 09/22)
Anti-tribal fishing candidate wins (The Talking Circle 09/20)
Dam breaching supported (Enviro 09/13)
Candidate's salmon plan criticized (Enviro 9/8)
States urge tribes to accept salmon plan (Enviro 7/26)
Dam breaching on hold (Enviro 7/20)
Racial tensions build over dams (The Talking Circle 04/14)
Treaty rights heat up (Tribal Law 04/14)

Relevant Links:
The Most Endangered Rivers, American Rivers - www.amrivers.org/template2.asp?cat=2&page=267&id=905&filter=-1
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission - www.critfc.org