Nature is an inherent part of the state's character.
Protecting that character is a challenge, especially along Interstate 5. Wash. In 1910 the year the Embrey Dam was constructed on the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg work began on a dam a continent away on the Elwha River on the remote Olympic Peninsula. For 90 years they have prevented migratory fish from reaching the spawning grounds their species used for eons. Both dams will be torn down when government studies are done and Congress appropriates the money needed to do the work. Built at the fall line, the dam blocks striped bass, shad and herring from reaching former spawning grounds between Fredericksburg and the mountains.