I know any mention of dam removal makes people scramble across their chosen line in the political sand, but what should never be lost or overlooked in the political debate is how resilient salmon and steelhead can be.

A wild steelhead was spotted in a tributary of Washington's Elwha River within months, not years or decades, after a fish-blocking dam was removed. The 35-inch male steelhead naturally migrated to the tributary stream to spawn with other steelhead that had been trapped and transplanted into the area. This fish found its own way to spawning grounds that had not been touched by steelhead or salmon since the early 1900s.

Similar things happened on Oregon's Sandy River after the Marmot Dam was demolished in 2007.

You can read more about the Elwha fish HERE.