Olympic National Park - Elwha Ecosystem Restoration (U.S. National Park Service)

Water falls from a spillway on the 210-foot high Glines Canyon dam.

Long ago, some of the richest runs of salmon outside of Alaska crowded upstream to their spawning grounds in the wild Elwha River. The river ran freely through towering forests that sheltered a living community including black bear, cougar, eagles and the Klallam people.

Ten different runs of anadromous fish, including coho, pink, chum, sockeye and chinook salmon, along with cutthroat trout, native char and steelhead made this pristine valley their home.

But one hundred years ago entrepreneur Thomas Aldwell saw the river and its narrow gorges as an economic opportunity. Between 1910 and 1913, the Elwha Dam was constructed five miles above the river mouth. By 1927 Glines Canyon dam was built eight miles upstream. Power generated by the dams helped fuel the local economy, but no fish ladders were built and the ancient pathways followed by the Elwha salmon were blocked.

By the 1980s, perspectives had changed and legal challenges and policy questions arose about licensing a dam in a national park. In 1992, Congress settled the issue by passing the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act.

Today, the National Park Service is working closely with Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and many other partners to restore the Elwha River and its ecosystem. Construction of water treatment and protection facilities will begin in 2006; dam removal will begin once the water facilities are complete.