Klean Kanteen celebrates dam removal on the White Salmon River
Klean Kanteen has had a long love affair with water in general and rivers in particular. We were thrilled to join American Rivers and around 300 passionate river advocates to witness the historic breaching of Washington's Condit Dam on the White Salmon River. Jeff Cresswell, co-owner of Klean Kanteen, was on-hand to mark the occasion, bringing north special edition steel pints to raise money (and hold New Belgium brew) for American Rivers important and ongoing work to restore the nation's rivers.
The White Salmon River flows from the slopes of Mt. Adams to the Columbia River. Portions of the river are designated as a Wild and Scenic or are protected as part of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. American Rivers has worked for over ten years with partners including the Yakama Indian Nation to lead the effort to remove the 95-year old, 125-foot Condit Dam. Removal of the dam willl restore access to 33 miles of habitat for steelhead and 14 miles of habitat for chinook salmon.
While a year's worth of demolition and rubble removal remain, the White Salmon River itself is flowing free for the first time in a century. Klean Kanteen was proud to support such an important and historic event, and organizations like American Rivers working to protect and restore waterways for future generations.
Event Photo Gallery
Condit Dam Explosion
See the initial dam explosion, which used over 700 lbs of dynamite to blow a hole in the base of Condit Dam and release the river water. Experts estimated the reservoir lake above the dam would take about 4-6 hours to fully drain. It took less than an hour. The mighty White Salmon was just yearning to be free!
A Fish Love Story
Before Klean Kanteen, co-owner Jeff Cresswell received a degree in Freshwater Fisheries and did a stint as a nature preserve caretaker. We have it on good authority that he can also flirt underwater; he met his wife Danny while doing snorkel fish counts! "We met on a class field trip on the Smith River, while studying fisheries at Humboldt State," says Danielle Cresswell, now Sustainability Officer for Klean Kanteen. "I saw the most beautiful cutthroat trout i've ever seen, but I guess more importantly, I met Jeff on that trip too. Our early lives together were focused on salmon and steelhead restoration on the north coast, after that "first date" snorkeling to learn how to count fish." I guess you could say fish, and love, at first sight.
American Rivers
As a non-profit, American Rivers is the leading organization working to protect and restore the nation's rivers and streams. They have dubbed 2011 "the year of the river" because of historic river restoration projects, like the Condit Dam removal. In fact, this year marks the key milestone of 1000 dams removed in the U.S.!
Learn more
More River Restoration
While in the Northwest, Jeff, also an avid flyfisherman, took the opportunity to join Freshwater Trust's executive director Joe Whitworth for a day of fishing on the Lower Deschutes River. The famed steelhead proved elusive, but the trip provided good conversation and updates on exciting efforts such as StreamBank, which aims to revolutionize how river restoration work is done.
History of the Condit Dam
The Condit Dam has been in place on the White Salmon River since the early 1900s. But now, much to the delight of steelhead, salmon, and mother nature, the dam will soon BE history! The river will finally flow freely like it did for centuries before.
Hosting by Canvas Dreams. © 2013 Klean Kanteen
