When a dam is demolished, the old ways return

It seems almost unbelievable: A slender, 3-foot-long, three-year-old rainbow trout recently swam from Montana’s Clark Fork River to spawning grounds in the Big Blackfoot River. The trout is the first in more than 100 years to heed the ancient call to ascend beyond the confluence of these rivers.

Since 1907, the lower Clark Fork River has been divided from its upriver tributaries by the Milltown Dan near Missoula, Mont. The 720-foot long and 21-foot high dam was built to provide electricity, primarily for a lumber mill, which produced timbers for building the mines and smelters in the nearby copper-producing cities of Butte and Anaconda.

Writers on the Range – by Pat Williams

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