Return of the River, official trailer

"Return of the River" is a feature documentary that tells the story of the largest dam removal and river restoration project in history, currently unfolding on the Elwha River in Washington State. The film explores an extraordinary community effort to set the river free, and shows an unlikely victory for environmental justice. Told by an ensemble cast of characters, "Return of the River" offers hope amid grim environmental news.

Undamming the Elwha

Worth a half hour of your time.

The Ambitious Restoration of An Undammed Western River

Image: National Park Service: Elwha Restoration Project

Caroline Fraser reports on the current status of the Elwha dam removal project.

With the dismantling of two dams on Washington state’s Elwha River, the world’s largest dam removal project is almost complete. Now, in one of the most extensive U.S. ecological restorations ever attempted, efforts are underway to revive one of the Pacific Northwest’s great salmon rivers.

LINK (via: Yale Environmant 360)

Time Lapse of the evolution of the Elwha River Mouth, 1939 - June 2013

Elwha Hatchery Loses Half Its Fish

The danger of putting all your eggs in the hatchery basket.

The failure of a secondary pump at the Elwha fish hatchery has resulted in the loss of 200,000 juvenile coho and 2,000 steelhead. This latest loss comes after a loss of hatchery Chinook earlier this spring due to the mistaken release of smolts coinciding with a brief high sediment load.

According to many experts the hatchery on the Elwha was unnecessary and natural spawning would have been a much more effective and economical strategy to re-colonize the Elwha fish populations. Instead we've all paid for a 16 million dollar hatchery boondoggle that has been one giant fiasco.

LINK (via: Earthfix)

Federal court dismisses suit against Elwha hatchery

A federal judge has thrown out a suit against the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s hatchery plan.

Settle found that the suit was moot because, since the suit was filed, the tribe had obtained permits from federal fisheries officials to carry out programs at its hatchery, leaving no question to settle.

“It speaks for itself,” said the tribe’s lawyer, Steven Suagee. “The initial complaint had been that the tribe didn’t have the approvals for these hatchery programs, and now we do.“

The tribe, while not conceding that the fish cause harm to wild stocks, announced in December to federal officials that it has ended its Chambers Creek program and will not be reviving it.

Kurt Beardslee, of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said the nonprofit, which took the lead in the suit, intends to appeal.

And.....

The tribe is negotiating with federal fisheries officials to be able to fish native Elwha steelhead after the moratorium even if those fish are still listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, if doing so does not set back recovery.

LINK (via: The Seattle Times)