LA TIMES • KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 28, 2023
More than 1,600 American damshave been removed since 1912. As dams in the American West increasingly clogged with silt and went decades without maintenance, their abilities to generate power and release water fell — and the risk of catastrophe rose. In the East, too, their primary achievement has been constraining the populations of Atlantic salmon. Today, their downfall is all part of the rewilding of America, long overdue. Thankfully, the end of the damned dam is finally here. ~ Richard Parker