SCA alum and Elwha River dam community affairs intern Evan Escamilla will also be on hand to celebrate the dismantling of two dams blocked for nearly 100 years.
SCA Community Affairs Intern Evan Escamilla coordinated outreach this past summer at the Elwha River dam removal project at Olympic National Park. Salmon populations are predicted to swell from 3,000 to nearly 400,000 as all five species of Pacific salmon return to protected streams within Olympic National Park’s largest watershed.
The Student Conservation Association invites you to kick the New Year off right with a night out celebrating the Elwha River! Just five months ago, crews started dismantling two dams – Glines Canyon and Elwha – on Washington’s Elwha River. The river has already begun to restore itself, pouring over the notches cut out of the dams that have blocked its flow for nearly 100 years. The Elwha’s Glines Canyon Dam, at 210 feet tall, will be the tallest dam ever removed.
Please join American Rivers, the Student Conservation Association, National Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association, NatureBridge, and American Whitewater for an evening to learn about the science and status of the largest dam removal project in US history. Get a glimpse into the living laboratory that is being created and find out how you can get involved.
When: January 11, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Seattle REI
Jerry Freilich, Ph.D., Research Coordinator, Olympic National Park, and Jeffrey J. Duda, Research Ecologist, US Geological Service will speak about the historic river restoration effort. SCA community affairs intern Evan Escamilla, who coordinated outreach at the Elwha River dam removal project this past summer, will also be on hand for the festivities.
American Rivers and American Whitewater are excited to premiere the final Year of the River Elwha film by Andy Maser at the event! The film features two passionate conservationists and their story of how they worked to set the Elwha River free. (Watch our first Elwha River film.)
The doors will open at 6:30 pm with a slide show of the dam removal process followed by the presentation at 6:45 pm and a Q & A session afterwards. The event will be moderated by Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes.