(AP) ? The unleashing of the Olympic Peninsula's Elwha River from two dams presents Washingtonians with a not-to-be-missed opportunity to witness the transformation wrought by the world's largest dam-removal project. The Elwha Dam, built in 1910 about five miles from the river's mouth, was removed by federal contractors last March. Both dams were built to power industrial development in Port Angeles. With 83 percent of its watershed permanently protected within Olympic National Park, the Elwha presents one of the best chances for ecosystem restoration anywhere. Today the scars from the old-time loggers' springboards ? 12 feet up the giant stump ? are still visible. Elsewhere on the former lake beds the National Park Service has embarked on an unprecedented replanting program, using seeds gathered from the Elwha watershed to grow dozens of varieties of native plants to crowd out weeds. After our hike, we hopped in the car, turned onto Olympic Hot Springs Road and headed into Olympic National Park and upstream to Whiskey Bend Road, to find the Upper Lake Mills Trail for a look at what was formerly Lake Mills. To experience the whole restoration of the Elwha, I later drove west on Highway 112 to Place Road, turning right to park where it dead-ends at the water.
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