Elwha Dam Site, Washington

The Elwha Dam was removed in 2011 to restore the watershed, one of the largest dam-removal projects for ecological reasons ever, at the time. This privately owned dam supplied power primarily to the Daishowa pulp and paper mill in Port Angeles. The dam, completed in 1913, blocked passage for an estimated 390,000 salmon and steelhead, altering the ecology of a river and delta that drains 19% of Olympic National Park's landmass. The U.S. government bought both the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam in 2000, as mandated by the 1992 Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act. The Glines Canyon Dam was removed a few years later.