
Elwha: Roaring back to life - Mz
http://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/elwha/
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sharp11
The resiliency of nature and the speed with which it rebounds is both
astonishing and important. What a great piece of journalism -- so rich in
detail and beautifully written.

 _The hum of the generators is replaced by the river singing in full voice,
shrugging off a century of confinement like it never happened. Nature’s
resurgence is visible everywhere._

~~~
deskamess
Yes, it was wonderful to read. The coloring of the mice and otters. The before
and after undersea graphic showing the beach creation was well done. A solid
article with the right amount of visual treats.

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kevbin
American Rivers has a map of dam removal projects:
[http://www.americanrivers.org/initiatives/dams/dam-
removals-...](http://www.americanrivers.org/initiatives/dams/dam-removals-map)

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sleighboy
An amusing event during the removal, person takes wagon wheel from old lakebed
and is fined by park.
[http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20120706/NEWS/1207...](http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20120706/NEWS/120709984)

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marshallmick
The National Park Service has a series of videos about the project for those
who are curious.

[http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-
restora...](http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-
restoration.htm)

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13thLetter
Yes, yes, nature and trees, that's all very nice but I'd like to know how much
electrical power generation was lost by demolishing these dams and, if it's a
significant amount, how that power generation is being replaced. We didn't
build dams just for fun.

~~~
Mz
This article states the dam was no longer worth the costs involved in
maintaining it. According to Wikipedia:

 _by the early 21st Century, the combined power output of both dams only
provided the equivalent of 38% of the electricity needed to operate one paper
mill, the Daishowa America mill.[citation needed]_

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwha_Dam#Construction](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwha_Dam#Construction)

~~~
13thLetter
Fair enough, then, thanks. I suppose I'm just automatically suspicious of this
sort of cheerleading, even in a situation where it ultimately makes economic
sense.

~~~
techsupporter
> even in a situation where it ultimately makes economic sense.

For me, one of the nice things about living in Washington State is that the
choice that makes the most economic sense is not always the one that is
chosen. It would make a lot of economic sense for Seattle to sell off huge
chunks of its massive parks system, but that doesn't happen. Tree removal and
water protection ordinances are the norm and they are, by and large, enforced.
There's a healthy respect for the nature found all over the state.

(I'm not arguing that "not following the economic choice" is the majority
outcome; far from it. But coming from a state that lived up to the rule of
streets in suburbs--bulldoze all of the trees and name streets after them--and
pushes its Congressional delegation for exemptions from environmental rules in
order to get man-made lakes built, it's a nice change.)

~~~
eru
Oh, economic rationality is a pretty weak constraint. Keeping your parks makes
perfect economic sense---you'll just have to be aware that they are part of
your consumption spending and account for them as such.

(And ultimately, all economic activity is to produce consumables one way or
another.)

~~~
deciplex
Moreover, even if some powerful lobby were able to show that it will derive
modest benefits from bulldozing all of Seattle's parks and replacing them with
temples of consumerism, it doesn't follow that doing so would make economic
sense for the people of Seattle or the people of Washington in the main, once
negative externalities are taken into account. It's not that you can't put a
price on nature, it's more that humans don't do a good job of it when they
even try, and law that takes this fact into account is good law.

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seanmcdirmid
I love camping at Elwha. If you ever get a chance, the Olympic Park Elwha camp
site is right next to the river! Not very developed (no showers, but I still
think they had some plumbing).

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wmu
Impressive artwork, love way how the animations react on the navigation
events. I've never seen such nice webpage.

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malkia
Dam, that's gotta hurt!

