SHELTON, Wash. – The Skokomish Tribe is breaching a dyke on purpose. It's an effort to return part of the Skokomish River delta along the Hood Canal to what it once was, and the effort is expected to have a number of benefits.

The Skokomish Tribe is not cutting holes in the dyke, they are erasing it all together. The tribe is letting the sea back in onto what was dyked and drained for farmland back in the 1940s.

"This area hasn't been flooded with saltwater in 70 years," said Keith Dublanica, who is the tribe's senior lands planner and former natural resource director.

He says it's taken 12 years to get to the point of turning this area back into a tidal zone.

"Plus, it's an environmental learning opportunity: How do these things work, how do we work with it, how do we fix and remedy what we've screwed up in the past," he said.

Like so many other decisions that were made decades ago, it seemed like a good idea to convert a seemingly worthless salt marsh into an area where you could grow crops, such as corn and hay.

Bringing down the dyke started Monday, and the first tide came rushing in late in the afternoon.

Fish, seals, otters and birds followed.

"It sounded like little rapids coming through," said tribal member John Miller.

Miller is blind, but he could hear the difference. He remembers his dad talking about it.

"After it was dyked up, a lot of things disappeared, a lot of the birds and ducks and things disappeared. Not like it was when the elders were kids."

Now, it's expected that native Olympia oysters, endangered salmon, and the birds will be back.

The tribe and the Mason County Conservation District expect by allowing the river to spread out, there will be less flooding upriver, and the problem with poor oxygen levels in Hood Canal may improve.