Decades

The Skagit Valley Herald editorializes on a plan to streamline permits for tide gate repairs:

The reality is that the tidegates impede salmon trying to navigate the labyrinth of delta sloughs, streamlets and marshes in their way between upriver spawning grounds and the ocean.

Furthermore, large segments of the estuarine habitat that fish need to strengthen themselves before heading out to sea have been diked and drained over the past several decades for farming.

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