Rising from the Ashes

Less than six years ago, the second of two dams on the Elwha River, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, was taken out to provide access for fish to the upper river located in the Olympic National Park. Since then, we have witnessed a remarkable transformation of the river - and of the wildlife that depend on it. Before the dams were installed in the early 1900s, the Elwha produced consistent and robust runs of salmon and steelhead and was a productive fishery. Afterwards, these runs dwindled almost to nothing. In fact, the river’s summer run of steelhead was almost extirpated. But taking out the dams paid immediate dividends for salmon and steelhead, which are now being found throughout the watershed. And summer steelhead, in particular, have staged an amazing comeback. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, summer steelhead have repopulated the Elwha in numbers unthinkable a few years ago. This film, from renowned filmmaker Shane Anderson, documents the return of summer steelhead to the Elwha, some of the key players who are studying the recovery of salmon and steelhead in this river, and what the Elwha’s recovery can tell us about large-scale river restoration projects in other places.
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[@berryelectronics]

Who else came here after watching " Undamming the Elwha, the documentary" This was a great follow up. Thank you!!

[@absolutevoltage28]

I did and I saw that documentary after watching DamNation a documentary featuring the elwa removal

[@pauljohnson9432]

the dirtbag diaries just did a cool podcast on this last week. dirtbagdiaries.com/endangered-spaces-the-elwha-river-recovery/

[@Mrbfgray]

Love these success stories. Often big agencies do good but take on a life of their own and go a dam TOO FAR, certainly the case here.

[@timothybmonahan]

I did. I am watching stream and river restoration after watching the Patagonia movie, Damnation. LE'T'S GO! this is so encouraging.

[@WilliamKiene-yg7rq]

I believe that before all the dams we had lots of Summer Steelhead in Nor Cal, OR, WA and BC. Now at 79, taking down many dams, all around the World, makes me very happy.

[@jackwright485]

I consider the Elwha my "home water". I fly fished the upper river every September until it closed for fish recovery post dam removal. Supposedly it is scheduled to reopen this fall, but I don't know if I can fish it again, especially after watching this film - I find myself feeling that I respect the fish too much. I still remember the first Elwha rainbow that I caught (on a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis) in the upper river many years ago, and saying to myself "this is something special, this is not your typical rainbow trout". I have revisited the upper river during the fishing closure, and it remains my favorite river valley in Olympic National Park. I took my wife there a couple of years ago, and she understands why I want to have my ashes spread in the upper Elwha valley when the times comes. Thanks for the film - I recognized all of the locations.

[@Machster10]

This should serve as a model for removing other obsolete dams like those on the Klamath.

[@billrobbins5874]

Incredibly wonderful. The steelhead is a beautiful looking fish.

[@adventureanglingpnw1821]

We need to remove the grand coulee dam on the colombia river and allow salmon and steelhead to reclaim native rivers they once called home.

[@billrobbins5874]

@@adventureanglingpnw1821 that would be very nice. That dam is quite old by now.

[@adventureanglingpnw1821]

@@billrobbins5874 dam right. If Oregon and Washington managed their salmon and steelhead fisheries like the great lakes do as a sport fishery it would thrive. It explains why the great lakes has such abundant runs of fish. Do away with the gill nets, commercial fishing for salmon or ban it for several years, and work with the tribes on solutions that could help them with their cultural heritage to salmon. I'm pretty sure we would see huge returns that my great grandfather told me about back in the early 1900s.

[@billrobbins5874]

@@adventureanglingpnw1821 agree, it would make this area extremely beautiful once again. Hoping dams have outlived there usefulness.

[@zachb8012]

I visited the estuary of the Elwha in August of 2021 and I ended up watching this video because it stuck with me as one of the most wonderful and awe-inspiring places I have ever been. There were juvenile salmon leaping from the water, where hundreds of gulls were being hunted by bald eagles and out at sea we saw a pod of porpoises. As if to put the icing on the cake of this ecological wonder one of the cleanest surf breaks I've ever seen now graces the bay. Earth's rivers are a magical gift and truly the best reason to love and appreciate the splendor of our natural world. There is always hope, so long as we never forget where we came from.

[@johnfrench9608]

Everyone involved should feel immensely proud. What a beautiful river 😍

[@antonybanks9865]

All the people involved in this project should be so proud of the work you have done.

[@gschaaf713]

Nice to see people nurturing our planet instead of exploiting its resources. this is the highest value work. thank you for your service.

[@dynamo2169]

As a member of trout unlimited and supporter of dam removals this was a cool video to watch. There is debate and hopeful progress to be made in my native state of Maine concerning removing dams to foster Atlantic salmon return. Really enjoyed the video!

[@adamsmith8533]

I live outside of Buffalo NY and most likely will never see that river but it warms my heart to see such a wonderful success story. Thank you all for your hard work. You should be very proud. Nature will find a way if we let her!

[@sancharino6878]

Me too! Hi neighbor

[@jaimec1489]

Beautiful video! I’ve watched it 3 times - a wonderful story of nature bouncing back after human interference. So much hope! Thank you for sharing.🐟💪🏻

[@dwaynekoblitz6032]

I’ve been following this ongoing story since dam removal. My goosebumps started around the one minute mark and only intensified as it went on. Such a remarkable story of what nature will do if man will just get out of the way. ❤️

[@axeman4542]

I visited the Elwha in 1987 on my honeymoon. To see the progress made with the dam removal gives me so much joy, and hope for similar results when the Klamath dams come down. Great work TU and all associated organizations, and a fine film from Shane as always.

[@andyfletcher3561]

Me too, around the same time frame. Fished from the first dam to the sea. It was fantastic, and so beautiful. I can only imagine how much better now that the dams are gone.

[@lofadem]

Wow that’s the year I was born

[@suezylproctor]

I was so happy to see the dams come down. I did not hold my breath waiting for the fish to come back. If we leave nature alone, it finds its way. What a beautiful success story - thank you all for what you are doing.

[@johnmedina5399]

Such a beautiful river system and hope they do an update video. This river is the poster child for the benefits of dam removal. Those under water shots were amazing great video.

[@patrickkallerman8583]

Hope is hard to come by these days, but John nailed it: this story gives a lot of hope. Unbelievable. I couldn't be more proud of the work TU is doing. Not just with the removal itself, but with the determined, evidenced-based follow-up work which will be crucial to ensure we are able to advocate for removals like this well into the future. Fantastic job.

[@nonewherelistens1906]

So totally agree. TU is a great organization, responsible for a lot of good on cold water fisheries.

[@casienwhey]

That was a nice short film about the fish recovery. I visited the area in 2003 or 2004 when the dams were still there and then came back about 15 years later when they were out and will try and visit again in a year or two to see it again post dams. One memory I have that sticks with me from the first visit was watching salmon swim around and around in circles at the base of the first dam looking for a way up stream but having no path. Seemed very sad. I'd vote for taking out as many dams as possible to help as many salmon as possible.

[@mickeybailey1108]

This is so powerful to me. They just restored the creek on my property on the Eel river. There is a proposal just in to remove one of the two dams blocking off fish habitat in the upper Eel river. I spend time on the creek watching to see if we will get chinook salmon back in the creek. It has been two years now since they opened Woodman creek. I also hope more rivers on the peninsula can be repaired. I love that place. Thank you for your work!

[@jamesdavis8771]

Dude this was absolutely soothing to my sole! Restore our fisheries! Thank God!

[@fishingbeyond8435]

Steelhead now, steelhead forever!

[@TheWelton49]

This is a fantastic video. As a Washington resident I'm often hesitant to support many organizations cause it seems this state gets overlooked. But it's great to see a success story like this in a state that seems to fight at every step to improve habitat for our at risk species.

[@erikdohme1097]

I’m trying to figure out how people dislike this video lol

[@wowthtsgood]

most dislikes are genuinely people missing the like button

[@slowstang88]

Mostly because there's no videos of females in wetsuits

[@erikdohme1097]

@@slowstang88 *shoulder shrug* well at least you’re honest.

[@eddiecharles6457]

It's because you can't fix stupid.

[@waltsnow1762]

Trumpanzeez !

[@Fisherking03]

Another excellent effort, Shane. Bust Deadbeat Dams!!!

[@peterdorn5799]

Elwha dam removal is what dreams are made of, I'm dreaming of the snake river now

[@mattwhalen892]

@@peterdorn5799 Remove dirty politicians like trump, Snake river next!

[@travisjacobson7126]

What’s wrong with dams?

[@rdecarolis1]

@@mattwhalen892 Any dirty do nothing democrats you'd like to remove?

[@AdamTait-hy2qh]

@@rdecarolis1 Democrats are pro environment. Republicans are pro profiteering.

[@jeromedamian5740]

Thanks to all that helped and that have supported that project to happen. A remarkable experience for the future of that fisheries. I have watched over the years as are salmon population decline in significant numbers and size ,since the 80s. Im in the noth central California area, not to far from Yosemite. All major rivers are as follows, Mokelumne Stanislaus Tuolumne and the Merced River all of which have had a impact in numbers . I have witnessed the growth and population of housing and agriculture in and around these rivers along with the many years of drought in California that have all taken its toll on the fisheries. I remember so many solmon in these rivers that when you walked into them you would get bummed or push out of the way by moving fish , some of which hit the 30lb plus size . Today your lucky to see 15 in a river system with a dramatic decline in size. Its such a difficult issue because people only think about their own needs for water and crops. Your story is very important and ill share it with people that care.

[@palco22]

Fantastic ! Failure was on people's mind at the beginning......but look at the smiles on the faces of these dedicated people and the joy for the Elwha people.

[@felipericketts]

Gives me joy and hope for the future and all those that will follow. Thanks for this great story!

[@lucianj.9084]

Awesome vid! Can’t believe that they still want to build the dam on the chehalis and I can’t wait til the day when they tear down all Columbia and snake river dams

[@nonewherelistens1906]

Dams are a 17th century solution to a 21st century problem. There are alternatives to dams that are less costly, more effective, and much more environmentally friendly.

[@brianfarmer6223]

Amazing to see the river restoring itself like this. So many benefits have come from this removal with all the sediment now creating the estuary in tidal water, fish passage up to the headwater. All the nutrition and micro organisms can run freely through the whole river with no backups of stagnant water. Thanks Trout Unlimited!!

[@garystanley1605]

Well Done Documentary! as a retired nature Photographer, I find this so encouraging! Now...if we can just fix the Road!

[@nisquallydave]

If there was ever a question that the issue is access to quality and quantity of habitat, this puts that discussion to rest. Nicely done and great to see my friend Rob M in the river getting wet. Mahalo nui loa!

[@samdavidson5734]

Great story and fine film making. The more I learn about steelhead, the more impressive they seem as a species. Give 'em even half a chance and they can recover. One of the lessons here is we gotta double down on protecting and restoring their best remaining habitats.

[@holokai21]

This so awesome for a river and it's Steelhead and Salmon to be coming back!!!!!!!!.Need to have many more West Coast rivers have the same dams removed!!!!!!.

[@seaknightvirchow8131]

It is so gratifying to witness the restoration of habitat.

[@joekleko7972]

It would be nice to think that this river could be opened up for C&R flyfishing sometime in the near future. I used to hike & fish this several miles upstream from Whiskey Bend back in the 1990's for Rainbow Trout. Maybe they were Steelhead? Very pretty waters, & very challenging walk & access as I remember, but well worth it. Great effort paying off!

[@andyfletcher3561]

Lots of large, sharp, moss covered rock where I fished it. I hooked a fish every cast.

[@speedbird1598]

@@andyfletcher3561 If you fished it after the dams came down, you are fishing illegally

[@andyfletcher3561]

@@speedbird1598 1985

[@speedbird1598]

@@andyfletcher3561 I see

[@pnwRC.]

AWESOME video that demonstrates how our beloved PNW fisheries can & WILL rebound, if given the opportunity to do so!

[@feelthesteel5173]

I listened to the podcast and found this thank you for documenting its habitats like this that should lead the way in restoring rivers

[@rosspolson3480]

Great to know about these projects. Canterbury, New Zealand, where I live has huge river pollution problems, different cause though - dairy farming.

[@bruce2keys270]

I read a article in Sport Fishing Magazine Sept/Oct 2018 pg 10 about Sea Lion over population having a effect on the salmon and steelhead population. Sea Lions eating up alot of salmon & steelheads.

[@alexpulsifer783]

Sea lions are annoying in California they steal your fish. I'm not saying let's go kill every sea lion but a little population control wouldn't hurt.

[@bruce2keys270]

@@alexpulsifer783 You are so right on this topic. Let's hope it happens !

[@dianenauertz9608]

Killing sea lions is not the answer. If humans just stay the hell out of the way ecosystems take care of themselves.

[@bruce2keys270]

@@dianenauertz9608 California sea lions are under the protection of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

[@beachbummington4122]

The river beautiful beautiful! The water is so clear! Glad the fish are returning!

[@Bill-cv3dy]

Awesome, all man has to do to help nature is get out of the way

[@MrAdrenaline00]

Bill 1314 I know, it is horrible that natural reproduction it’s so scarce that they have to make a documentary about it. Since the monopolization of water natural reproduction is non existent. Here in Colorado our waters are packed full of inbred genetically modified liberal fish.

[@michaelmartin7176]

Just add water LOL !

[@dantehouseworth3849]

Good to see trout unlimited helping wild recovery efforts. They stock here in NE Ohio and even have gotten breeding populations established in one or two of the streams

[@rfvflyfishing9162]

SO AMAZING! We need to continue working to maintain and revive our incredible environment!

[@WolneRzeki]

Amazing film, amazing story, amazing dam removal! You're giving us hope. Greetings from Poland :)

[@NFiltr8Red]

Fishing for fun and food in moderation is something we need to preach to younger generations. Our local rivers in Humboldt county are Catch and Release, which is great but there are still people poaching and taking way too many fish from other rivers that you can keep.

[@tomjpt]

As one of the participants said, after watching this miracle I have more hope for the future than I have ever had.

[@lag9765]

Thank you for all that you do....

[@kristofreuther6692]

Super cool and motivational for the projects that we face here on Europe! Thanks so much!

[@andyfletcher3561]

The case is being made worldwide, and not only for trout/salmon waters.

[@christoabbe]

The most beautiful place ive ever seen

[@kylegulbranson2831]

I think that's an awesome video and that shows the fact these populations can bounce back.

[@latstv6007]

This made me smile every time I think of it. I love nature. ❤️

[@evanjohnson5480]

Great story. Wonderful outcome. Its nice to see somerhing improve instead of deteriorate.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

"Life finds a way"

[@ScottRoney]

Wow that is so awesome and encouraging. I hope they continue to remove dams at a prodigious rate

[@troyhudson2825]

I would love to chat with someone from the research team on the process of cataloguing as we want to do something similar on the Middle Shuswap above Wilsey Dam near Vernon, BC. What an incredible story we hope to mimic here in our local waterways.

[@LhotseHawk]

Awe, Shane! That made me happy cry!

[@jakejohnson7714]

Thank you for all your personal involvement and hard-work guys!

[@watwudscoobydoo1770]

So promising, I live along stevens creek in CA. We have a population of steelhead and raibows seperated by a dam built in the 30s. For the longest time they use to stock hatchery trout in the resevoir but they eventually stopped to save the native fish and they found they was almost no interbreeding between the hatchery fish, and the native fish occured. Unfortunatly they will never bust the dam or build any sort of fish ladder. California, we are always low on water. But there are several top tech companies along the watershed, I dont see why they could come up with some solution even if it was just about good PR points with the public.

[@rdecarolis1]

Good point. Many studies have been done and prove that hatchery fish do not impact wild fish populations, thank you for providing more evidence of that.

[@tercelfish00]

Love to see a healthy forest too!

[@triplepointexpeditions]

Well done Shane and TU!

[@talesfromanoldmanpatoneal6372]

I do love mother nature. Thank you mother 🌎

[@patfinnegan467]

Amazing documentary! Nice job!

[@herbrothersoutdoors501]

Beautiful film! Letting nature recover.

[@KutthroatOutdoors]

Man this was incredible, just awesome storytelling, thank you for sharing!

[@rodngun762]

beautiful story and video... literally brings tears to my eyes. let's keep up this progress!!

[@waynethiessen729]

There is hope! Incredible!

[@joshperkins2415]

Great film, really shows how resilient these fish really are. And this brought back many memories for me, we would snorkel the Calawah and Sol Duc in the summer looking for fishing gear, and seeing fish was awesome.

[@philwe3367]

Perfect and thanks for sharing! Awesome pictures.

[@josecarrasquero4311]

Great story; awesome film!!!

[@cirishluck25]

Absolutely beautiful. Lets keep restrictions in place over time and use the Elwah as a case for environmental remediation without muddying the waters (pun intended).

[@MrMarkAMartin]

Powerful, I love that river

[@zackmalham7974]

Awesome work guys! So rad!!

[@derekcollins1972]

Totally dope

[@davidveilleux4688]

Absolutely awesome

[@Al4beef]

Beautiful. I'm loving this damless river. My fishing ground is the mid-Columbia river. Tons of bass, walleye and introduced species here. But salmon and trout are so depleted that they banned the fishery 😔

[@skypieper]

Awesome! i've been waiting for a video update on the Elwha. The underwater footy was incredible.

[@jonahv9572]

That's awsome! Makes me smile! 😃

[@reginaldfaxworthington5353]

well made, beautiful, and informative; thank you!

[@brandonmizak5486]

This really is so awesome. Great video

[@futureyou6496]

Love this video!!!

[@Rhinoclemmys182]

Fine work

[@jtepsr]

fantastic stuff

[@twistedtwitt]

Wonderful! Its so great to see nature restore its beauty in the midst of human interaction.

[@andrewvillanueva4222]

Washington state is so lucky to take down the dams. I wish California would do the too. I used see steelhead in the parjaro river in the 1980s. They are gone now.

[@andyfletcher3561]

I hear they are coming back to Malibu and Santa Clarita, slowly but surely.

[@pietersundgren7867]

Great job to this entire team! Great film, even greater fish, for the best of reasons.

[@WhoNoes]

Amazing edit on this, Great story and very uplifting. Well Done!

[@brookdale2740]

The return of life to the freed Elwha is certainly the stuff of miracles. Now we just need to see all of the Olympic rivers received Wild and Scenic designation.

[@rollintufff]

The way nature intended... Fantastic job bringing awareness to what conservation looks like 🤘

[@robertsmith786]

Amazing video. Well worth watching

[@clarewatson1397]

Magnificent - what an inspiring piece of work. A brilliant job that gives us all hope for the future - well done.

[@Noneya2023]

Bravo!

[@outdoorsmiths2272]

Great work you guys are doing but also great filming, gotta give it up to you guys for just being all-around quality

[@cjyoung7372]

Nice edit I could watch an hour of that

[@wolfgangbehm8751]

Nice Job!!!

[@joedennehy386]

Magnificent work, shows what can be done if we don't interfere with nature.

[@user-hb2gh6wh7e]

It is really difficult. The people who spend most of their time wading and casting don't seem to want the sand and gravel back. The tail-waters become cobble paved, and the fish have no place to make redds. We walk all-over the creek beds to do a little less casting. The folks around here will happily fish with streamers, all-year, for imported and/or hatchery-trout. You would think that it would be less expensive to install a gravel for the trout, chub and sucker to spawn in, and something granular for the benthic macroinvertebrates to call 'home.'

[@NWJonathan]

Amazing. 🦾🐟🖤

[@farv4207]

Thats awesome!

[@Jesse-cy7ws]

Leave them alone and they’ll come back. In Canada we insist on releasing all steelhead immediately.

[@IntoTheWildFlyFishing]

Love it!

[@janegertrude9270]

Yes, we do insist on releasing all steelhead...because we only have about three of them left! It`s a disaster up here in BC for all our wild fish stocks :( :( I used to fish for Steelhead in the S Thompson, it`s been completely closed for over 8 years now. Ya there`s finally a lot of people working to fix things, but out DFO is dropping the ball again and again, then we had a catastrophic rock slide in The Fraser last winter, truly gut wrenching :( :(

[@sergeanthetfield3001]

Such a positive video. Best wishes from Sweden

[@fishingfantasy9335]

Inspiring video

[@richardtorres1923]

Nicely Done! Kudo's to the crew who had to pack that camera gear to and from the river. I'm sure that was not fun.