Right now there are tens of thousands of salmon - including endangered species - dying at the base of an out-dated dam on the White River east of Tacoma. The Buckley Diversion Dam is blocking their homeward journey to spawn in the Mt. Rainier watershed. Local tribes say the federal government is failing in its responsibility to transport the fish around the dams on this river.

If you follow the Puyallup river inland from Commencement Bay and hang a left up the White River you will eventually come to the Buckley diversion dam. It’s a small dam, only about 15 feet high, but it’s very old and very dangerous for fish. Russ Ladley stands in the shallows below the dam with a haunted look in his eye. He’s a fisheries biologist with the Puyallup Indian Tribe. Pink salmon carcasses litter the rocks around his feet. He nudges one with his boot.