Return of the River

The Vashon Land Trust will present a free showing of the movie “Return of the River” the story of the Elwha River dam removal and habitat restoration near Port Angeles, Washington. The movie will play at the Vashon Theater on March 22nd from 5:30 – 8:00 PM following a Board of Directors vote & brief presentation of Vashon Land Trust’s conservation work in 2015. Vashon Theater & Island GreenTech are sponsoring the event.

“Islanders have enthusiastically supported the Land Trust’s efforts to protect and restore habitat along our salmon streams,” says Tom Dean, Executive Director “We thought our supporters would love seeing the huge-scale restoration project and the tenacity of the community members who worked to set the Elwha River free.” Filmmaker John Gussman will be on-hand for a brief Q & A when the movie is over.

“Return of the River vividly portrays the epic story of the freeing of Olympic National Park’s mighty Elwha River from two salmon-blocking dams. The Elwha Klallam people, scientists, fishermen, politicians, enviros, and townsfolk all add their voices to a film that is visually dazzling, lyrically evocative, and fluid as mountain snowmelt.” Tim McNulty, poet, essayist, and nature writer wrote in a review.

In 2013 the Land Trust showed a preview of “Return of the River” before the film was completed and released at the Land Trust building and Vashon-Maury Islanders turned out in large numbers. The Land Trust hopes that the larger venue of the Vashon Theater will allow more Islanders to come enjoy the finished 70 minute feature.

This free movie showing also serves as the Land Trust annual meeting, but the entire Vashon-Maury Island community is welcome.