On Wednesday, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist spotted a first-in-a-century sight on a tributary to the Klamath River in the Klamath Basin: A fall-run Chinook salmon.
Just weeks after the last remnants of the four hydroelectric dams that used to clog the lower Klamath River were hauled away, concluding what was the largest dam removal effort in United States history, the first salmon was spotted in the Klamath Basin area since 1912, when the first of the dams was installed, blocking fish passage to the hundreds of miles of historic habitat.
“This is an exciting and historic development in the Klamath Basin that demonstrates the resiliency of salmon and steelhead,” said ODFW Director Debbie Colbert in a press release. “It also inspires us to continue restoration work in the upper basin. I want to thank everyone that has contributed to this effort over the last two decades.”
The driving forces behind this effort sit some 200 miles downriver, at the Klamath’s mouth, where the dam removal advocacy of Yurok and Karuk tribal members, and the tribes themselves, stretches back to the catastrophic fish kill of 2002. That September, water diversions and the dams resulted in low, stagnant flows and high water temperatures that allowed a gill rot disease to tear through spawning salmon, killing more than 70,000 adult fish.
Tribal members have since been the driving force in dam removal efforts, teaming with environmentalists, fishing organizations and, at times, upper basin ranchers to find a path forward. Long held dreams bore fruit this summer, when the dams were removed under a landmark agreement — the third reached in the decades-long effort — between the dams’ owner, the tribes and the states of Oregon and California.
But efforts to restore the Klamath River watershed to something resembling a pre-dam state continue. The Yurok Tribe recently announced it had received $18 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association for restoration efforts on upper Klamath tributaries, while the tribe’s Fisheries Department Revegetation Crew continues phase two of a massive re-seeding and planting project to fill the old reservoir footprints with native plants. (Read more about that effort in past Journal coverage here and here.)
“On the first morning, we saw an otter, eagles and waterfowl on the river’s edge,” said Yurok Revegetation Crew member Ben Hunsucker, a Yurok citizen, in a press release. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few salmon moving through there soon. I know our ancestors are proud of the work we are doing on behalf of the river.”
Upriver, the Klamath Tribes are celebrating the return of salmon that haven’t been seen in their ancestral spawning grounds for generations.
On October 16, a fall-run Chinook salmon was identified by ODFW’s fish biologists in a tributary to the Klamath River above the former J.C. Boyle Dam, becoming the first anadromous fish to return to the Klamath Basin in Oregon since 1912 when the first of four hydroelectric dams was constructed, blocking migration.
The salmon and others likely traveled about 230 miles from the Pacific ocean to reach the tributary only months after four Klamath River dams were removed to ensure fish passage from California to Oregon.
“This is an exciting and historic development in the Klamath Basin that demonstrates the resiliency of salmon and steelhead,” said ODFW Director Debbie Colbert. “It also inspires us to continue restoration work in the upper basin. I want to thank everyone that has contributed to this effort over the last two decades.”
“The return of our relatives the c’iyaal’s is overwhelming for our tribe, said Roberta Frost, secretary of the Klamath Tribes, in a press release. “This is what our members worked for and believed in for so many decades. I want to honor that work and thank them for their persistence in the face of what felt like an unmovable obstacle. The salmon are just like our tribal people, and they know where home is and returned as soon as they were able.”
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists will continue to monitor the upper Klamath River and its tributaries in collaboration with the Klamath Tribes as a part of an effort to track the impact of dam removal.
Read the full ODFW press release copied below, as well as video the agency provided of fall-run Chinook in the Klamath Basin.
This article appears in Ballot Measure Soup – A look at all those local revenue proposals coming before voters.
