By Erin Maxson
 
July 30, 2010
 
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Rogue River rafting companies say they are looking forward to the removal of Gold Ray Dam.
 
For more than 100 years, the dam has blocked a section of the Rogue River from commercial rafting.
 
However, with the dam's demolition, there will be a new runable stretch of river.
 
"So, it will open up basically a different section of water that rafters and kayakers really haven't been able to use because there is no take out points, and there are no access points. So it'll create a better one day trip for us, and we will be able to do longer trips," said Bart Baldwin with Noah's Rafting.
 
Longer trips mean more money from tourists and locals looking for a good ride.
 
Baldwin says he doesn't know of a single person in the rafting and kayaking community that opposes the removal of the dam.
 
On Wednesday, a federal judge refused to extend a temporary stop-work order sought by a group trying to prevent removal of the century-old, defunct hydroelectric dam.
 
The county must remove the dam by October 31st. In order for the county to use $5 million in federal stimulus funds for removal, the dam must be out by that date. The money is through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In September of 2009 Slayden Construction signed a notice of intent with the county to remove the dam. The contract was for just over $5.5 million.
 
Jackson County commissioners voted unanimously in May to use the federal and state funding to remove the 106-year-old dam. Jackson County owns the dam, which was decommissioned as a hydropower facility in 1972.
 
The dam has long been identified by biologists as an obstacle to salmon and steelhead on the Rogue.