Elwha River Dam Removal Site

For more than a century, two dams blocked the Elwha River's salmon runs and flooded the historic homelands of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, who had lived along its banks for thousands of years. In 1992, Congress authorized their removal. Demolition began September 17, 2011; the Elwha Dam was gone by spring 2012, the Glines Canyon Dam by August 2014 — until 2024, the largest dam removal in history. The river now runs free from the Olympic Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.