The Coming of the Dam
The federal government pulls three islands from public entry at Priest Rapids, clearing a major hurdle for a proposed mega-dam.
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.
The land office at Yakima received notice from the Department of the Interior withdrawing from entry three islands in the Columbia River at Priest Rapids. While these islands consist of barren and rocky formations, they are the site upon which the planned dam will rest. Fishery interests continue to protest the project, claiming that a high obstruction in the river would destroy a $5,000,000 annual industry by blocking salmon migration. However, advocates argue that regional irrigation and power development for two million acres of farmland takes precedence over the fishing industry.
“Who owns a river, the fisherman who used it first; the farmer who comes later and uses its waters to irrigate his lands, or the plain citizen to whom the industrial water-power development would mean employment?”
The conflict between industrial hydropower and the protection of salmon runs defined the 20th-century development of the Pacific Northwest. Today, this remains the central, unresolved struggle of the Columbia River Basin's ecosystem and economy.
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