Elwha Dam Research Paper

As dams were starting to be removed, America started its largest dam removal project on the Elwha dam in Olympic National Park. The manager of the Elwha dam, Kevin Yancy said, “Todays society is infatuated with tearing things down.” He also explained that the Elwha dam removal is causing families to relocate because they’re losing jobs. It took $307 million of taxpayer money to remove the Elwha dam, was it worth it? David Montgomery, a professor at the University of Washington said that when he first moved to Washington everyone was telling him to get involved with the Elwha dam removal and 20 years later it was actually happening. “The Elwha dam was actually illegal to begin with because it had no migration areas for the fish,” said Chuck Landa, former chief ranger …show more content…
Although the U.S. Constitution says that treaties are the supreme law of the land, the people of the lower Elwha saw only injustice for 100 years, but there is a healing now because that is changing.” One member of the tribe cried, “Its an answer to our ancestors prayers.” When you make a dam you make a fish hatchery, when you take out a dam you make a fish hatchery. In the late 1800’s all fisheries were at risk because of dams, Americans started to trade nature for science to “save” the fish, so fish hatcheries were born. Lower Columbia River National Fish Hatcheries website explained the process of their hatchery. At the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery on the lower Columbian river, they kill the fish because there’s no habitat for them. They produce the salmon and then they come back to the hatcheries after they released them. They then take the eggs out of them and produce 15 million salmon to provide to commercial fisheries and give them to native tribe catching. They believe they’re making up for the loss of habitat. These fish are beaten to death and then artificially spawn. “It creates a very expensive illusion of a salmon run,” said Ben

Show More

Related Documents: Elwha Dam Research Paper

Buckeye Lake Dams