Discovering Southern Oregon – February 2025

AMID GLOBAL STORIES of environmental decline, pollution, and ecosystem disruptions, the revival of the Klamath River offers a remarkable tale of resilience and renewal.

Once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast, the Klamath River suffered a dramatic ecological collapse in 1918 when PacificCorp constructed the first of four hydroelectric dams. These dams halted the river’s natural flow, preventing salmon from migrating to their spawning grounds in cool mountain streams. Before the dams, the Klamath River was a thriving ecosystem, home to millions of migrating birds and supporting Native American tribes, including the Hoopa, Karuk, Klamath, Shasta, Modoc, and Yurok. For thousands of years, the river sustained these communities both nutritionally and spiritually.

After the dams were built, populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead, trout, coho salmon, and Pacific lamprey plummeted, with some species nearing extinction. The Klamath Tribes in the upper basin lost access to their salmon fishery for nearly a century. For the Yurok Tribe, known as the “salmon people,” the situation became so dire that they resorted to importing Alaskan salmon for their annual Salmon Festival, a celebration traditionally centered on the fall return of Chinook salmon to the river.

The fight to restore the Klamath River began in earnest in the early 2000s, led by the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes. Through protests, testimony, and lawsuits, they highlighted the environmental devastation caused by the dams, particularly to the salmon populations cut off from their historical habitat. The campaign drew national attention, gaining support from environmental and fishing organizations.

The Tribes won their fight and on October 2, 2024, the largest dam removal project in history was completed, dismantling the four dams and freeing 420 miles of the Klamath River and its tributaries spanning southern Oregon and northern California. This monumental achievement marks a major victory for local tribes, the environment, and the salmon species that once thrived in these waters.

The river’s recovery has been swift. Less than a month after the dams came down, salmon have returned to spawning grounds that were inaccessible for over a century, and within two weeks of dam removal, NOAA’s sonar monitoring counted over 6,000 Chinook salmon swimming past the former dam site to enter the newly restored habitat. A firsthand visit to Spencer Creek, where it merges with the newly restored Klamath River, reveals giant Chinook salmon slowly making their way upstream in search of ideal spawning spots. This was a remarkable experience, standing on the bottom of a former lakebed, watching Salmon reach a stream that they have been blocked from for over 100 years. In addition to restoring the river, over 2,000 acres of previously submerged lands are being restored by Native tribes, who have propagated more than 66,000 pounds of native seeds, including wheatgrass, yarrow, lupine, and oak trees, to rejuvenate the ecosystem.

Shari Anderson, a Jacksonville resident and fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries, who was instrumental in the project, praised the collaborative efforts behind this historic restoration. “This is not just a victory for the river but a testament to what’s possible when science, tradition, and community come together to heal the environment.”

The Klamath River’s return to its wild state offers hope for a sustainable future, proving that with persistence and partnership, ecosystems can be restored, and life can thrive once again.