Blast from the Past: 1993 Video of Condit Dam Hearing

October 10, 2011 | Dams & Dam Removal

Amy Souers Kober
Senior Director of Communications

One of our partners on Washington's White Salmon River, Daniel Dancer, shared this video from 1993, with news and public hearing footage about the Condit Dam removal effort. 

I couldn’t help but get a little choked up watching the kids (who are now in their early/mid 20’s!) bust through the dam.

This old video is a reminder of how long American Rivers and our partners have been working on restoring the White Salmon River. And now, in just a couple weeks (on October 26, to be precise) a hole will be blasted at the base of Condit Dam, draining the reservoir in five hours.

Thank you Dan, and all of the partners and volunteers who have devoted decades to bringing this river back to life.

18 years ago, in July of 1993, the first hearing for the relicensing of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River was held in the little town of White Salmon, Washington. It was there that a few local environmentalists first went public with the idea of actual "dam removal" as opposed to some form of fish passage. At the hearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, local children carrying artful salmon on sticks. bashed through a mural of the dam on stage in front of a packed house. This was the first of many artful breaches of the dam and their "testimony" ala the broken mural, was sent to FERC. This was the very first news story in the saga of the removal of Condit Dam which on October 26th, 2011 will be a reality!

Witnessing the work of so many dedicated and passionate people is humbling and inspiring.

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