Although the damming would have relieved pressure on California's overburdened water systems, it stirred up decades of controversy, as some of the proposals made little economic sense and would have been detrimental to an ailing salmon run. The Eel was granted federal Wild and Scenic River status in 1981, formally making it off limits to new dams. Nevertheless, logging, grazing, road-building and other human activities continue to significantly affect the watershed's ecology. The Eel River originates on the southern flank of Bald Mountain, in the Upper Lake Ranger District of the Mendocino National Forest in Mendocino County. The river flows south through a narrow canyon in Lake County before entering Lake Pillsbury, the reservoir created by Scott Dam. Below the dam the river flows west, re-entering Mendocino County. At the small Cape Horn Dam about east of Willits, water is diverted from the Eel River basin through a tunnel to the Russian River, in a scheme known as the Potter Valley Project. Below the dam the river turns north, flowing through a long isolated valley, receiving Outlet Creek from the west and then the Middle Fork Eel River from the east at Dos Rios. About downstream, the North Fork Eel River – draining one of the most rugged and remote portions of the watershed – joins from the east. Between the North and Middle Forks the Round Valley Indian Reservation lies east of the Eel River. After this confluence the Eel flows briefly through southwestern Trinity County, past Island Mountain, before entering Humboldt County near Alderpoint. The river cuts in a northwesterly direction across Humboldt County, past a number of small mountain communities including Fort Seward. The South Fork Eel River joins from the west, near Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the town of Weott. Below the South Fork the Eel flows through a wider agricultural valley, past Scotia and Rio Dell, before receiving the Van Duzen River from the east. At Fortuna, the river turns west across the coastal plain and enters the Pacific via a large estuary in central Humboldt County, about south of Eureka. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad tracks follow the Eel River from Outlet Creek, about above Dos Rios, to Fortuna. The railroad has been out of service since 1998 due to concerns of flooding damage. U.S. Route 101 runs along the South Fork Eel River and then the lower Eel River below the South Fork.