As the river's name indicates, the White Salmon was once home to a thriving salmon run. All but the lower three miles of that run were choked off in 1913, however, when 125-foot Condit Dam was built without a fish ladder. In a move that U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt called "the Northwest's epicenter of hope," PacifiCorp announced Sept. 22 that it has decided to tear down the dam by 2006.

The decision was based purely on economics. Three years earlier, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission informed the utility that the dam's operating license would not be renewed unless the dam was retrofitted with fish ladders costing an estimated $30 million. But the dam could be removed for only $17.2 million - a savings of nearly $13 million. And its 14-megawatt hydroelectric capacity was only 0.1 percent of PacifiCorp's total.

Initially, the government wouldn't consider the dam-removal option unless PacifiCorp hired a fleet of dump trucks to cart away sediments that had accumulated behind it during 86 years of operation. But that requirement was a potential deal-killer, increasing the estimated cost by more than $30 million. Conservationists reexamined the issue and concluded that instead of carting away the sediments, maybe it was okay to just let the river do the job itself. "Anything else was prohibitively expensive and in any event, there was always going to be some sedimentation from the removal process," says Katherine Ransel, northwest regional director for American Rivers. Overall, she says, a one-time shot of sediment is an acceptable price for getting rid of the dam.

Because the decision evolved from negotiations among PacifiCorp, conservationists, the government, and Indian tribes whose livelihood once depended on salmon, the deal has widespread support.

But there have been protests from cabin owners whose homes will no longer be lake-side. In an impassioned statement to Portland's Oregonian newspaper, one homeowner said she felt sold out by environmentalists seeking to put "a political notch on their gun."

Restoring the White Salmon is an important test for salmon recovery throughout the Northwest. The upper river has long been maintained in pristine condition. With the dam gone, the only obstacle between its spawning beds and the sea will be Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which salmon have been navigating since the 1930s. If salmon won't rebound quickly on the White Salmon, they're not likely to do so anywhere. How many fish the river might support depends on whether they can surmount a 30-foot waterfall 16 miles upriver to reach upstream habitat; biologists estimate the river might support 7,500 Chinook, Coho and steelhead.

The restored river is also likely to be popular with paddlers. Not only will dam removal connect its upper and lower segments, but the buzz in Portland is that the stretch of water beneath the present-day lake will prove to be a unique Class III run, in a tight, narrow canyon. "Usually to get into that kind of canyon, you have to deal with Class V rapids," says Keith Jensen, co-owner of Portland's Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe. If the new run really is a Class III, he adds, "it's going to be fantastic for beginners and intermediates."