During the great age of dam building 1935-1970 we had little knowledge of ecosystems and we had little concern for any species of organism other than ourselves and those that made us sick. Times have evolved. We now have a legion of bio-scientists / ecologists all over the world who have generated libraries of scientific research on the nature of ecosystems, their fragility, and their devastation by dams.

The costs of the proposed Chehalis River dam outweigh the benefits. A dam is an outdated, moribund concept. Every dam built anywhere in the world after 1960 has caused more problems than it has solved. For the past thirty years Americans have been expanding habitat into ecosystems where we do not belong. The notion of solving problems generated by one form of thoughtlessness with another is to add negatives. Adding negatives creates a synergy of dissolution / damage / destruction. Do not compound the error of living in a flood zone with a destructive dam. We live in an age of dam removal, ecosystem restoration. Our days of dam building are over.

Jim Blake

Hoquiam