One of the North Coast’s 18 condors is undergoing treatment at the Sequoia Park Zoo for lead poisoning, while eight others had levels high enough to be detected during recent medical exams. In an update this week, the Northern California Condor Restoration Program — a Yurok Tribe-led effort to reestablish a self-sustaining population of the […]
Yurok Tribe
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Salmon Spotted in Klamath Basin for First Time in More Than a Century
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 […]
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Klamath Salmon Festival Turns 60, Celebrates Elders
Driving north in the rain from Arcata early Saturday morning, the prospects for the 60th annual Klamath Salmon Festival didn’t look good. But by the 9:30 a.m. start of the parade, the rain had stopped, the sun came out from behind the clouds and this year’s festival celebrating tribal elders (because the event was turning […]
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Huffman, Haaland to Visit Humboldt Bay Amid Growing Tribal Offshore Wind Opposition
Amid an upwelling of Native opposition to plans to build offshore wind farms, including one off the coast of Eureka, United States Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman will be visiting Humboldt Bay later this week, in part to meet with local tribes and hear their concerns. Reached this morning to […]
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First of Four Klamath Dams Has Been Removed
And then there were three. The nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corporation recently announced that work to remove the first of four hydroelectric dams clogging the lower Klamath River is complete, bringing the largest dam removal project in the nation’s history one step closer to fruition. “Seeing the Klamath River flow through this canyon after being […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Local Condor Exams Include Tests for Deadly Avian Flu
On May 12, all eight of the North Coast’s California condors were inside the release enclosure where they began their new lives — and took off on their first flights into the wild — after being enticed back in by offerings of carrion in preparation for this week’s twice-yearly exams. Along with the chance to […]
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Happy Condorversary! Today Marks the Return of Prey-Go-Neesh to Local Skies
What a difference a year makes. On this date one year ago, A3 and A2 took their first flights into the wild, marking the historic return of California condors to North Coast skies after a more than 130 year absence. Now eight of the birds known to the Yurok Tribe as prey-go-neesh are flying free, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]