The Battle for the Columbia
Fishing interests argue that a proposed 90-foot dam at Priest Rapids would slash their $10 million industry in half.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A delegation of men representing the fishing interests, including the state supervisor in Washington and the fish warden of Oregon, appeared before Colonel W. J. Barden, United States engineer in charge of the Priest Rapids district, in Seattle last week and entered a protest against the building of the Priest Rapids dam. They testified that their business was worth $10,000,000 annually and that the building of a 90-foot dam at Priest Rapids would cut their industry in half. After hearing their testimony, Colonel Barden informed the fish men that he would accept data to be compiled later by a committee of their representatives to prove points brought out at the hearing and that the case would then go to the water power commission at Washington, D. C., for final action.
“They testified that their business was worth $10,000,000 annually and that the building of a 90 foot dam at Priest Rapids would cut their industry in half.”
This 1924 protest highlights the long-standing conflict between hydroelectric development and the ecological health of the Columbia River, a struggle that defines Pacific Northwest regional policy to this day.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.