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210clear creek hatcheryJoe Kennedy, Nisqually Land TrustNisqually Land Trustit impossible for the runs to survive. Even subtle changes can makethe difference over time in a watershed. Fallen branches or scattereddebris can alter the path of water and provide resting space for fish.Trees that line the river’s edge shade the water. Remove them and thetemperature will climb. At seventy-seven degrees, salmon will die.The fish have adapted to slow, natural change throughout history.But keeping pace with the dramatic and sometimes erratic advancesof humans is something else. Sprawling urban areas and giant damshave had a staggering impact on drainage and devastated multiplespecies. In the late 1960s, the spring run of the Nisqually River’schinook was extirpated.“It’s the habitat,” Billy says. “The habitat is disappearing and hasdisappeared. If you looked out on that bay, it looks beautiful. Butunderneath is a forest—field grass, everything, it’s all gone. It’s goneby just society and overpopulation.”