"A history-making and much debated project to restore the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State has taken a big step forward. A contract has been awarded to remove the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams in an ambitious, and expensive, effort to reverse decades of environmental damage to an important river system.

The Elwha River is hardly a household name for many of us, so why are plans underway to spend upwards of $350 million dollars in an effort to restore the river to natural conditions?

According to the Project FAQ's, once the work is completed, salmon populations will swell from 3,000 to more than 300,000, as all five species of Pacific salmon return to more than 70 miles of river and stream. Removing the dams will also reestablish the river's natural flow of sediment from the mountains to the coast—rebuilding wetlands, beaches and the estuary at the river's mouth.

"This story is about the fish," explained Frances Charles, Chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. "The Tribe looks forward to the return of the Chinook, and the abundance of fish from the stories our ancestors have been telling us about since the dams went up. We used to have salmon and other species out there, and we want them back and revived for our children, and our children's children.""

Get the Story:
It's Ambitious and Expensive: History-Making Effort to Restore Elwha River Takes a Big Step Forward (National Parks Traveler 8/30)