Dam Removal Saves Salmon

CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE VIA GETTY IMAGES

RIVER REBORN: The Klamath River passes through the lands of six Native American tribes, who depend on the river for water and fish.

Schools of chinook salmon once swam up Klamath River in California every fall. These fish were returning to the streams where they were born to spawn, or lay eggs. But over the past 100 years, dams were built along the river, preventing salmon from making the journey. For decades, conservation groups and local Indigenous tribes, like the Yurok, have fought for the removal of the dams. Last August, they finally succeeded. Four dams were fully deconstructed in the largest dam removal project in United States history.

MARK CONLIN/BLUE PLANET ARCHIVE

BIG FISH: Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, were once plentiful in the Klamath River.

Less than two months after the final dam was removed, thousands of chinook salmon were once again spotted swimming up the river. Biologists were surprised by the huge number of fish that made the journey, traveling farther upstream than anyone had anticipated. “It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” says Barry McCovey, a biologist working for the Yurok Tribe.

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