A plan to remove a dam from the Elwha River in Washington to help restore salmon runs seems to have hit another stalemate, even though the feuding parties agree the dam should come down. Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) is insisting that a bill to fund the dam’s removal include a provision stating that no dam on the Columbia or Snake rivers, whether privately or federally owned, could be removed without congressional permission. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said yesterday that he would never agree to give Congress veto power over the breaching of privately owned dams.
