Something I thought I would never live to see, Glines Canyon Dam being removed from the Elwa River a couple of years ago. Salmon are coming back to breed; the river used to produce salmon runs with a cash value in one year equal to the value of the electricity generated over a century.
Salmon, like almost anything, can be a touchstone for human values. Merriweather Lewis wrote in his journal several times about his men nearly starving to death on their expedition, largely because white men would only eat fish as a last resort. So while his expedition followed river systems which were some of the most productive in the world in terms of edible fish, they preferred to starve when land-based game was scarce.