Vivian Lee, chair of the Hoh Tribe, and Mike Hagen, their director of land management, had a great column in the Seattle PI this morning:

Riprap speeds the river’s flow, eliminating resting areas important to fish. It prevents rivers from creating natural logjams that are important in creating diverse fish habitat. Adding riprap is like putting a straitjacket on the river. It eliminates natural bends, eddies and pools that help control flooding while providing spawning and rearing habitat for fish.

Tourism and fishing are dual economic engines on the north Olympic Peninsula. Keeping the road open at the expense of fish habitat ultimately takes money from the region’s fishing-based economy. The twin pressures of increased flooding and decreased habitat easily could put Hoh River fish populations in a decline from which they cannot recover.

Read the entire thing here.