Don Brunell

Some activists believe there is no such thing as a good dam, that we should destroy all dams to restore fish runs, no questions asked.

A more balanced approach would be identifying dams we can live with, and dams we can live without.

When the Elwha Dam was completed in 1913, people cared more about electrifying the Olympic Peninsula than protecting migrating salmon. After all, salmon were plentiful and electricity was the force driving economic growth. But the dam denied salmon and steelhead access to their traditional spawning grounds about 50 miles upriver.

Last year all that began to change...