Amid contemporary debates over large dam development and declines in fisheries, this book offers a case study of a river basin where development decisions did not ultimately dam the river, but rather conserved its salmon. Although the case is local, the implications of this environmental history of the Fraser River (British Columbia), and the attempts to dam it for power and defend it for salmon, are global. Matthew Evenden explores the transnational forces that affected the river, the changing knowledge and practices of science, and the role of environmental change in influencing environmental debate.