Butlerian jihadi
@rsgreacen.bsky.social
Environmental advocate, coastal far Northern California (aka Baja Cascadia). Conservation Director @Friends of the Eel River. Intemperate opinions my own.
Reposted by Butlerian jihadi
The rainbow trout that were landlocked in the upper reservoir on the Elwha River have sent lots of babies off to sea to become steelhead, starting not very long after both dams came out.
It’s a pretty safe bet the Eel River rainbows would do the same.
It’s a pretty safe bet the Eel River rainbows would do the same.
November 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM
The rainbow trout that were landlocked in the upper reservoir on the Elwha River have sent lots of babies off to sea to become steelhead, starting not very long after both dams came out.
It’s a pretty safe bet the Eel River rainbows would do the same.
It’s a pretty safe bet the Eel River rainbows would do the same.
A lot of my comments to FERC are basically this: look, it’s working
November 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
A lot of my comments to FERC are basically this: look, it’s working
Reposted by Butlerian jihadi
Recent(ish) details
www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/elw...
www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/elw...
Wild steelhead still a force in the Elwha | Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Migration patterns have apparently reawakened for the Elwha River's wild steelhead. Studies show that the fish may have retained much of their genetic drive despite 100 years of being trapped behind d...
www.eopugetsound.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Recent(ish) details
www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/elw...
www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/elw...
And if you’d like to help, please consider telling FERC that dam removal makes sense here? By, y’know, tomorrow at 2 Eastern time?
It’s only a minor pain in the ass to sign up to comment.
It’s only a minor pain in the ass to sign up to comment.
November 30, 2025 at 6:41 PM
And if you’d like to help, please consider telling FERC that dam removal makes sense here? By, y’know, tomorrow at 2 Eastern time?
It’s only a minor pain in the ass to sign up to comment.
It’s only a minor pain in the ass to sign up to comment.
Yeaaahhh. Can’t remember that guy’s name atm.
November 30, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Yeaaahhh. Can’t remember that guy’s name atm.
And freetheeel.org for piles of background, references and resources
Home - Free The Eel
Saving West Coast salmon, supporting North Coast economies and cultures
freetheeel.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:32 PM
And freetheeel.org for piles of background, references and resources
Anyway see eelriver.org for the formal version
Home - Friends of the Eel River
The Eel River, one of California's major waterways, is known for its scenic beauty, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities. It faces environmental
eelriver.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Anyway see eelriver.org for the formal version
Actually it’s about morons and summer steelhead but yeah
November 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Actually it’s about morons and summer steelhead but yeah
I cannot fathom clinging to stupid lies to fend off such a transcendent fact.
November 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I cannot fathom clinging to stupid lies to fend off such a transcendent fact.
What we now know thanks to Sam Kannry is that the resident rainbow above Scott Dam have both the anadromy genes and the SSH genes.
They just need access to the ocean again. So when the dams come down, it’s very likely we are going to see an extinct animal at the edge of its range come back to life.
They just need access to the ocean again. So when the dams come down, it’s very likely we are going to see an extinct animal at the edge of its range come back to life.
November 30, 2025 at 6:21 PM
What we now know thanks to Sam Kannry is that the resident rainbow above Scott Dam have both the anadromy genes and the SSH genes.
They just need access to the ocean again. So when the dams come down, it’s very likely we are going to see an extinct animal at the edge of its range come back to life.
They just need access to the ocean again. So when the dams come down, it’s very likely we are going to see an extinct animal at the edge of its range come back to life.
So of two sibling fish with the same genetics, one can remain resident rainbow trout in freshwater, while the other gets lucky, gets fat and migrates.
The one that stays in freshwater still has the genes for anadromy, though. And it turns out the summer life history has a similar genetic locus.
The one that stays in freshwater still has the genes for anadromy, though. And it turns out the summer life history has a similar genetic locus.
November 30, 2025 at 6:18 PM
So of two sibling fish with the same genetics, one can remain resident rainbow trout in freshwater, while the other gets lucky, gets fat and migrates.
The one that stays in freshwater still has the genes for anadromy, though. And it turns out the summer life history has a similar genetic locus.
The one that stays in freshwater still has the genes for anadromy, though. And it turns out the summer life history has a similar genetic locus.
The thing is though, steelhead are shape shifters. You’re probably used to seeing them called steelhead trout, which is not wrong. See, steelies are just rainbow trout (O. mykiss) that have gone to the ocean, got big, and come home.
Not all rainbows can, and conditions matter too.
Not all rainbows can, and conditions matter too.
November 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The thing is though, steelhead are shape shifters. You’re probably used to seeing them called steelhead trout, which is not wrong. See, steelies are just rainbow trout (O. mykiss) that have gone to the ocean, got big, and come home.
Not all rainbows can, and conditions matter too.
Not all rainbows can, and conditions matter too.
Then they go up, often over bigger barriers and against higher velocity flows than the winter run fish which probably are just entering freshwater at that point. Summer steelhead reach the cool headwaters winter run fish usually can’t. All, of course, to give their progeny their best shot.
November 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Then they go up, often over bigger barriers and against higher velocity flows than the winter run fish which probably are just entering freshwater at that point. Summer steelhead reach the cool headwaters winter run fish usually can’t. All, of course, to give their progeny their best shot.
Not of steelhead, naw man they were down to Baja, and are still in a few SoCal rivers.
But the southernmost run of summer steelhead. These are fish that come into freshwater in spring, run up to the cold canyons of the Van Duzen and the Middle Fork, holding in deep pools until the fall rains.
But the southernmost run of summer steelhead. These are fish that come into freshwater in spring, run up to the cold canyons of the Van Duzen and the Middle Fork, holding in deep pools until the fall rains.
November 30, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Not of steelhead, naw man they were down to Baja, and are still in a few SoCal rivers.
But the southernmost run of summer steelhead. These are fish that come into freshwater in spring, run up to the cold canyons of the Van Duzen and the Middle Fork, holding in deep pools until the fall rains.
But the southernmost run of summer steelhead. These are fish that come into freshwater in spring, run up to the cold canyons of the Van Duzen and the Middle Fork, holding in deep pools until the fall rains.
Why? For us it’s fish, especially Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead.
For me it’s even more especially the upper Eel summer steelhead.
They’re extinct now. Haven’t run to the Pacific since Scott Dam was built w/o any fish passage. That was 1922.
They *were* the southernmost run on Earth.
For me it’s even more especially the upper Eel summer steelhead.
They’re extinct now. Haven’t run to the Pacific since Scott Dam was built w/o any fish passage. That was 1922.
They *were* the southernmost run on Earth.
November 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Why? For us it’s fish, especially Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead.
For me it’s even more especially the upper Eel summer steelhead.
They’re extinct now. Haven’t run to the Pacific since Scott Dam was built w/o any fish passage. That was 1922.
They *were* the southernmost run on Earth.
For me it’s even more especially the upper Eel summer steelhead.
They’re extinct now. Haven’t run to the Pacific since Scott Dam was built w/o any fish passage. That was 1922.
They *were* the southernmost run on Earth.
The new diversion will be run of the river, and wet season only. So it shifts from the summer diversions that the Potter Valley Project has enabled the last century.
November 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
The new diversion will be run of the river, and wet season only. So it shifts from the summer diversions that the Potter Valley Project has enabled the last century.
Both Scott Dam, which forms the Lake Pillsbury reservoir, and Cape Horn Dam, which backs up the Van Arsdale reservoir, will be torn down in the same summer, while the new diversion works are also being built.
November 30, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Both Scott Dam, which forms the Lake Pillsbury reservoir, and Cape Horn Dam, which backs up the Van Arsdale reservoir, will be torn down in the same summer, while the new diversion works are also being built.
It’s real bad. And the thing is, you cannot negotiate with delusions.
Dam removal here on the Eel River comes with a deal to keep a diversion going to the Russian River, a grand compromise we’ve been working on for a decade.
We wanted the dams out ASAP, as does PG&E.
Dam removal here on the Eel River comes with a deal to keep a diversion going to the Russian River, a grand compromise we’ve been working on for a decade.
We wanted the dams out ASAP, as does PG&E.
November 30, 2025 at 5:44 PM
It’s real bad. And the thing is, you cannot negotiate with delusions.
Dam removal here on the Eel River comes with a deal to keep a diversion going to the Russian River, a grand compromise we’ve been working on for a decade.
We wanted the dams out ASAP, as does PG&E.
Dam removal here on the Eel River comes with a deal to keep a diversion going to the Russian River, a grand compromise we’ve been working on for a decade.
We wanted the dams out ASAP, as does PG&E.
We have been facing this for decades now in environmental advocacy. People’s fear and resentment and bullshit make them double down when we point to consequences. Rather than adapt they attack, rejecting not just our concerns but our values, the facts science has revealed, and now reality itself.
November 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
We have been facing this for decades now in environmental advocacy. People’s fear and resentment and bullshit make them double down when we point to consequences. Rather than adapt they attack, rejecting not just our concerns but our values, the facts science has revealed, and now reality itself.
OTOH comments against are overwhelmingly a loose fabric of outright lies and misinformation. The same ones we have been rebutting for years.
I could go into detail but 🥱. The thing is these people absolutely do not care that they’re lying, it’s all rationalizations for their inner certainties.
I could go into detail but 🥱. The thing is these people absolutely do not care that they’re lying, it’s all rationalizations for their inner certainties.
November 30, 2025 at 5:33 PM
OTOH comments against are overwhelmingly a loose fabric of outright lies and misinformation. The same ones we have been rebutting for years.
I could go into detail but 🥱. The thing is these people absolutely do not care that they’re lying, it’s all rationalizations for their inner certainties.
I could go into detail but 🥱. The thing is these people absolutely do not care that they’re lying, it’s all rationalizations for their inner certainties.
So far, the differences between pro-dam removal comments and anti are really quite striking, even to this crusty old cynic.
Dam removal supporters write unique, coherent, meaningful, and truthful comments.
(Very glad to see this, it’s what we’ve been working for)
Dam removal supporters write unique, coherent, meaningful, and truthful comments.
(Very glad to see this, it’s what we’ve been working for)
November 30, 2025 at 5:26 PM
So far, the differences between pro-dam removal comments and anti are really quite striking, even to this crusty old cynic.
Dam removal supporters write unique, coherent, meaningful, and truthful comments.
(Very glad to see this, it’s what we’ve been working for)
Dam removal supporters write unique, coherent, meaningful, and truthful comments.
(Very glad to see this, it’s what we’ve been working for)