The largest dam removal project in American history will begin this fall, after decades of campaigning by the Sierra Club and our local allies on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
Over 100 years ago, the Elwha River boasted teeming salmon runs and provided a home to wildlife important to the local Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe—until the 105-foot Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam were constructed to produce electricity for a local pulp and paper mill as well as the nearby city of Port Angeles, WA. The dams disrupted the river, cut off salmon runs, and impaired the local ecosystem.
The Sierra Club has worked for more than 25 years with tribal and other interests to see dams removed from the Elwha River, reestablishing the river's flow and salmon fishery. Workers will power down the Elwha Dam on June 1, and begin dismantling both the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam in September.
When the dam reservoirs are drained, salmon will be free to swim again from the Olympic Mountains down through old-growth forests, and conservationists will begin efforts to revive the newly-exposed barren land. Beginning with 15,000 plants this fall, National Park Service workers and volunteers will eventually introduce 400,000 local plants and trees to return the land to a forested ecosystem.
Read more here.
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May 2011
Illinois Waterways Cleaner Thanks to Water Sentinels
In May, more than 350 volunteers collected over 700 pounds of garbage and 150 pounds of recyclables from the Fox River. Local residents Fran Caffee and Cindy Skrukrud, both Sierra Club Water Sentinels, organized the massive clean-ups along the river, a tributary of the Illinois River: Two in Aurora, Illinois' second-largest city, and one in Elgin, about 25 miles to the north.
“Clean riverbanks do not mean clean water,” says Fran, “despite all the trash we collect!” Water Sentinels team members have also been testing the river’s water quality since 1995 for nutrients, phosphorus, and nitrogen to monitor the long-term health of the river. They share the data with the Club’s chapter volunteers and staff working on nutrient standards for rivers and ponds.
With a new, local kayak and canoe rental shop in town, as well as the River’s Edge Park running alongside its banks, the Fox River is a resource on many fronts. Clean water is important for the environment and human health and it is also beneficial for the local economy. Thanks to Sierra Club’s Valley of the Fox Group and Illinois Water Sentinels’ annual clean-up efforts, the river quality is improving, bettering the community.
Read more about it at The Beacon News.
(Photo: Volunteers display their trash collection from the Fox River clean-up.)