Salmon in 1974: Boldt Decision

Isotope studies show marine nitrogen in riparian trees and songbirds. Bears and eagles are the visible vectors; the trees keep the receipt. What did the Elwha dam removals show? After 2011-14, sediment flushed and salmon recolonised reaches above the old dams faster than some models feared -- a rare full-height teardown.

Are hatcheries a solution or a delay? They keep harvest numbers up and can dilute wild fitness. The argument is now about proportions, not existence. Why are Atlantic salmon a different politics? Wild S. salar collapsed in much of Europe and New England. Farmed Atlantic salmon in net pens are a separate industry with sea-louse and escape files.

Many Alaska runs are still large and limited-entry managed. That success is not transferable to a heavily dammed Columbia without the same habitat. Olfactory imprinting on natal water plus celestial and magnetic cues. A ladder that smells wrong is a closed door. Did Boldt (1974) change more than courtrooms?