| Tribe members rejoice after fish populations return for first time since historic dam removal | |
| By Katie Dupere |
Source: thecooldown |
7/4/2024 |
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Credit: iStock |
After more than a century, a Native American tribe in northern Washington can finally fish for coho salmon in the same rivers as its ancestors, the Seattle Times reported — and it's all thanks to the removal of two ecosystem-disrupting dams. |
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The removal of the dams comes after years of hard-fought environmental advocacy by members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to restore the tribe's historic lands. As detailed by the Times, since 1911, two dams blocked nearly 90 miles of river and tributary habitat on the Elwha River in Olympic National Park. The dams obstructed more than 90% of the river's natural flow, depleting salmon populations in the area and preventing the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe from fishing the tribal waters. |
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