An Interpretive History of the Elwha River Valley and the Legacy of Hydropower on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

Historical Research Associates

In June 2009, the National Park Service (NPS) and Olympic National Park contracted with Historical Research Associates, Inc. (HRA), of Seattle, Washington, to write an interpretive history of the Elwha Valley and the Elwha River dams. The two hydroelectric dams have stood on the Elwha River for more than eighty years, produced power that spurred the growth of the pulp and paper industry in the nearby city of Port Angeles, but also blocked the passage of the once prodigious Elwha River salmon runs. After three decades of intense debate on the subject, the dams are now scheduled for removal in 2011-13, in order to restore the Elwha River ecosystem and help salmon and steelhead return to the river. In October 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed Pulbic Law 102-95, the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, which set the dam removal project in motion. During the course of conducting the numerous studies in preparation for dam removal, the two dams were named eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1996 requires mitigation to compensate for the alteration or removal of historic features such as these when they are owned or operated by the federal government. To address this requirement, the National Park Service, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Washington State Preservation Officer, and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation entered a programmatic agreement detailing the steps required for mitigation. The mitigation agreement specified that the NPS would oversee the survey and documentation of all historic structures, and develop an interpretive plan that would ensure that the story of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams would be conveyed effectively to park visitors and the general public. This historical narrative is part of that interpretive effort.