The article on Sept. 2 about Pat Neal, the fishing guide, being skeptical of fish restoration makes some good points.
My concern is for those efforts on the Elwha River, which, between the dams, used to be the best river on the Peninsula if you wanted to flyfish for trout.
It’s disappointing that it’s been closed for the last 10 years and won’t reopen until there are sufficient numbers of returning steelhead and salmon.
Where were these wild fish supposed to come from once the dams were removed?
Is it possible that the only salmon discovered upstream are from the tribal hatchery and were trucked up there?
When the upper dam was removed, the spring floods wiped out the campgrounds and Olympic National Park’s access road, resulting in lost revenue from camping and entrance fees.
Another question is whether the release of all the silt from Lake Mills washed downstream and killed a lot of the resident trout and affected the food supply for those that survived.
Everett Thometz
Port Angeles