The legislation authorizing removal of the Elwha dams happened 25 years ago. The agreements among diverse - or should I say, divided - interest groups are even older. The use of hatchery fish to jump start wild fish recovery and to supplement fish populations for harvest was fundamental to making those agreements. The prevailing opinions about mixing hatchery and natural fish production were different 30 years ago than they are today. I think backpeddling on decades-old agreements is likely to jeopardize future complex agreements.

I'm not disputing the fact that the Elwha represents the near ideal watershed for natural fish population recovery experimentation, but I won't delude myself by denying that it would be an experiment.

Sg