Klamath River
Posted inArts + Scene
Celebrate the Fall Equinox and the Un-Damming of the Klamath at this Year’s North Country Fair
Arcata’s lively fall equinox festival the North Country Fair takes place this weekend filling the plaza with happy revelers on Saturday, Sept. 16, and Sunday, Sept. 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (free). Celebrate the diversity of the community and season over two days with 170 art and craft vendors, local food and information […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Return of ‘30,000 Salmon’
In mid-September of 2002, tens of thousands of fish (mostly Chinook salmon) turned up dead on the Klamath River. Attributed in part to low water flow from the Iron Gate Dam, the devastating fish kill left an enormous impact on the local community, artist Becky Evans included. A self-described “land-based artist,” Evans tends to let […]
Posted inNews
With a ‘Heavy Heart,’ Yurok Tribe Says Klamath Salmon Festival Will Go On Without Its Namesake
The Yurok Tribe, with a “heavy heart,” has announced that the namesake of the annual Klamath Salmon Festival will not be served at this year’s Aug. 19 event due to record low runs that also led to the closure of the California fishery. Now in its 59th year, the festival will include cultural and basket-weaving […]
Posted inNews
North Coast Condor Flock Spreads Its Wings
Humboldt County’s eight California condors are branching out, venturing for an overnight stay on the Yurok Reservation near Blue Creek earlier this week, marking their first exploration of the lower Klamath River. A little more than a year has passed since the first two of the endangered birds with a nearly 10-foot wingspan, known to […]
Posted inNews
Klamath Dam Removal: Copco 2 is Coming Down
Progress is being made on the removal of Copco 2, the smallest and first of the four dams being dismantled on the Klamath River after choking the waterway’s flows for more than a century. According to a news release, crews this week “removed the gates, walkway and two of the five bays down to the […]
Posted inNews
California Ranchers Intentionally Violated an Emergency Water Order. Now Lawmakers Want to Triple the Fines
When ranchers violated an emergency order to stop pumping water from the drought-plagued Shasta River last year, state officials fined them $4,000, or roughly $50 each. Now California legislators are weighing a bill that would triple fines for such infractions — and could allow the penalty to climb higher than a million dollars. Authored by […]
Posted inNews
Salmon Season Closure: Huffman, Pelosi Pledge to Work to Fast Track Federal Aid, Cite Need for Long-Term Solutions
North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman joined other officials today in pledging to work for the expedited release of federal dollars to help those impacted by the all-but-certain closure of the 2023 salmon season due to what’s forecasted to be near record-low returns of Chinook to the Klamath and Sacramento rivers. “We can’t afford to wait […]
Posted inNews
No California Salmon: Fishery to be Shut Down This Year
Most summer mornings at first light, Jared Davis is a few miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, motoring his charter fishing boat Salty Lady over the Pacific Ocean. His eyes sweep the horizon, looking for diving birds, but mostly he watches the screen of his dashboard fish-finder for schools of anchovies — a sure […]
Posted inNews
Tribes Decry Klamath Water Proposal
The Karuk and Yurok tribes issued a warning this morning that a Bureau of Reclamation proposal to reduce flows on the Klamath River could kill off an entire salmon run in advance of a historic dam removal and restoration effort aimed at saving the fish. Noting that tribes and state officials just last week celebrated […]
Posted inNews
Feds OK Klamath Dam Removal
The Federal Regulatory Commission gave its final nod of approval this morning to plans to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River, putting the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history on track to begin next year. The vote was unanimous. “This moment is bigger than anyone could comprehend,” said Amy Cordalis, a Yurok […]
Posted inNews
Ranchers Who Tapped Shasta River Face $4,000 Proposed Fine for Violating State Drought Order
California’s water officials plan to impose a $4,000 fine on Siskiyou County ranchers for violating orders to cut back their water use during a weeklong standoff last summer. State officials and the ranchers agree: A $4,000 fine isn’t much of a deterrent to prevent illegal water diversions during California’s droughts. The proposed fine would amount […]