Kwoneesum Dam Removal
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In 2024 the Cowlitz Tribe, in collaboration with multiple partners removed a Dam from the headwaters of Wildboy Creek. The Dam was constructed by the Campfire Girls at an old splash-dam site to create a recreational lake, but had become a maintenance liability for the landowner The site was acquired by Columbia Land Trust, initiating the restoration effort. The site is surrounded by Forestry lands owned by Weyerhaeuser. Restoration restores fish passage to approximately 6 miles of upstream habitat. Downstream of the dam the project manually re-establishes a gravel-bedded stream with wood, in a reach that had been scoured to bedrock. Construction was completed in 2024.
News
- 13 May 2024 - https://www.kptv.com/2024/05/13/cowlitz-tribe-celebrates-removal-kwoneesum-dam/
- 14 May 2024 - https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/05/14/2881632/0/en/Cowlitz-Indian-Tribe-and-Columbia-Land-Trust-Celebrate-Launch-of-Kwoneesum-Dam-Removal-Project.html
- 14 May 2024 - https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/may/14/welcome-to-our-cathedral-cowlitz-tribe-columbia-land-trust-hail-dams-pending-removal/
- 15 May 2024 - https://www.indiangaming.com/cowlitz-indian-tribe-columbia-land-trust-launch-kwoneesum-dam-removal-project/
- 7 July 2024 - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/why-deadbeat-dam-removals-are-so-difficult-in-wa-pnw/
- 16 Oct 2024 - https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/oct/16/a-significant-milestone-camp-kwoneesum-dam-is-gone-but-work-to-reshape-the-land-continues/
- 18 Oct 2024 - https://www.chronline.com/stories/cowlitz-indian-tribe-celebrates-removal-of-dam-in-skamania-county,363916
- 11 Jan 2025 - https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/jan/11/local-view-a-new-chapter-restoring-wildboy-creek/
Partner/Funder Pages
- https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/f?p=309:19:::::P19_PROJECTID:48474856
- https://openriversfund.org/projects/wildboy-creek-lower-columbia-sandy/
- https://www.columbialandtrust.org/dam-removed/
- https://wildliferecreation.org/projects/wildboy-forest-and-kwoneesum-dam-acquisition/
- 3rd Party Record - https://www.highergov.com/grant/NA23NMF4630041/
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/tribal-priority-fish-passage-projects-selected-funding