Historical Range:
Historically, steelhead occupied an extensive range of the Elwha River, traveling to the far reaches near headwaters. The Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams have limited wild steelhead production enormously. Although the Elwha is still the largest producer of hatchery steelhead in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, dependence on the small gene pools of hatchery stocks can lead to diseases and other problems.
Diagram:
—The red line represents the theoretical range of steelhead in the Elwha River before construction of the two dams.
