Peninsula Daily News news sources
PORT ANGELES — The $16.4 million Lower Elwha Klallam tribal fish hatchery project is now more than 50 percent complete.
The tribe is partnering with the National Park Service and Department of Interior and utilizing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus dollars to construct the hatchery near Stratton Road on the Lower Elwha reservation west of Port Angeles.
Startup is set for March 2011.
The hatchery is a key component of the National Park Service’s $308 million removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.
Removal of the dams will begin in 2011 and run through 2014.
The purpose of the landmark project is to restore the Elwha River to its natural state and bring native salmon and other fish back to the river.
Construction of the 105-foot Elwha Dam in 1913 and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam in 1927 blocked the progress of salmon up the river and prevented the return of fish to spawn.
The new facility replaces an existing hatchery nearby that will operate for about two more years before it is decommissioned.
The National Park Service awarded the contract for the fish hatchery to James W. Fowler Co. of Dallas, Ore.
The project broke ground in February.
Nine local sub-contractors are working on the hatchery’s construction.
“At the peak of employment there will be up to 50 employees working on hatchery construction,” said LaTrisha Suggs, assistant director of river restoration for the tribe.
In addition to the hatchery, support roads and water facilities are being constructed.
“The hatchery is expected to provide a refuge to salmon populations during the actual dam removal period and to help supplement the natural production of coho salmon, steelhead, chum salmon and pink salmon following dam removal,” said Larry Ward, Lower Elwha hatchery manager.
