Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, Olympic National Park sued over hatchery fish on Elwha

PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and Olympic National Park are being taken to court over the use of hatchery fish to kick-start restoration of the Elwha River's once-famous salmon runs.

Four fish conservation groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Thursday challenging the use of hatchery fish, which they said undermines ecosystem recovery during and after removal of the river's two dams and violates the federal Endangered Species Act.

Demolition of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, the focus of a $325 million federal river restoration effort, started last September and is expected to be complete in 2014.

The lawsuit, which also names the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, comes on the heels of a report from the Hatchery Scientific Review Group that is critical of the dam removal project's fish restoration plan.

The federally funded group concluded in its report released Jan. 31 that .... http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/articl...d-over-hatchery