Salmon and river advocates have much to be thankful for this year!

On August 26th after a twenty year campaign and three year demolition project, the world's largest dam removal project was completed. The Elwha River is once again flowing freely from its headwaters in the Olympic Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sediment once trapped behind the dams is rebuilding critical river and nearshore habitats, vegetation is being restored in the once barren landscapes of the drained reservoirs, and anadromous salmon and trout are naturally migrating past two former dam sites for the first time in over 100 years.

It is an incredibly inspiring story of restoration and repair thanks to the vision and tenacity and passion of Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Northwest conservation and community leaders.

As you begin a long weekend of food, friends, and family, we want to share two additional items with you...

FIRST - on Monday this week, salmon and fishing advocates and the Nez Perce Tribe jointly filed a lawsuit challenging the Army Corps' lower Snake River "sediment management plan" and its efforts to begin harmful and expensive dredging to prop up an economically unsustainable waterway-to-nowhere. Here are links to several recent news stories and our SOS press release:

(1) Seattle Times: Lawsuit challenges approval of Snake River dredging (Nov. 25, 2014)
Environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe filed suit in Seattle to challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of a $6.7 million dredging project scheduled to begin next month.

(2) Lewiston Morning Tribune: Dredging plan spawns lawsuit (Nov. 25, 2014)

(3) Save Our wild Salmon press release (Nov. 24, 2014)

SECOND - Save Our wild Salmon will kick off its end-of-year fundraising campaign on GivingTuesday - next Tuesday, December 2, 2014. Thank you in advance for your generous support for our work to repair healthy rivers and restore wild salmon and steelhead to the peoples and places of the Pacific Northwest.

You can visit our online donation page here and learn about donor gifts and raffle items here.

Have a wonderful holiday and thank you as always for your support,