In a truly heartwarming comeback story, Chinook salmon have finally returned to their ancestral spawning grounds in the upper reaches of Oregon’s Klamath River, after more than a hundred years of absence.
Just this month, Oregon wildlife officials confirmed that these resilient fish successfully navigated a significant obstacle – a lengthy lake – to reach the vital tributary streams that form the river’s headwaters.
This remarkable achievement comes roughly a year after the final one of four major hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River was removed. For decades, these dams had created an impassable barrier, preventing salmon and other fish from journeying upstream. Their demolition, completed in 2023 and 2024, represents the triumph of many years of dedication from Native American communities—such as the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath tribes—as well as environmental groups, local anglers, and numerous other advocates.
“It was both a blessing and filled with remorse,” shared William E. Ray, Jr., chairman of the Klamath tribes. He acknowledged that many had “fought hard all those decades” for this restoration, yet would not live to see its outcome. Still, he emphasized, “it was also very joyous.”
The Klamath River snakes for approximately 260 miles, from its origins in south-central Oregon all the way to the northern California coast, where it empties into the Pacific near the town of Klamath. For thousands of years, it supported thriving populations of salmon, trout, and other migratory fish, which were fundamental to the diets and cultural practices of the tribes living along its banks.
However, by the early 1900s, settlers began exploiting the river for irrigation and hydropower. The four dams that were recently removed were constructed between 1912 and 1962. These, alongside smaller dams, canals, and water diversions, not only blocked fish migration but also fundamentally altered the river’s natural habitat. Consequently, Chinook salmon populations, once the most abundant fish in the Klamath, plummeted to near zero and vanished entirely upstream of the dams.
“These fisheries made up half our diet,” and were crucial for traditional medicines, Mr. Ray recounted. The loss of salmon, he explained, “pecked away at the tribes’ viability, our ability to exercise and protect our living culture.”
The demolition of the last dam concluded in October 2024. Remarkably, just days later, salmon were observed swimming upstream, passing through the former dam sites and making their way toward Upper Klamath Lake, their final stop before the smaller tributary streams where they instinctively go to spawn.
Despite this progress, several obstacles remained, and biologists were uncertain if the salmon could navigate them. A number of existing dams still featured fish ladders – artificial pools and cascades designed to assist fish in bypassing barriers. However, these ladders were built decades ago, not to contemporary standards, and were originally intended for trout, not salmon.
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Scientists raced against time to deploy tracking equipment to monitor the salmon’s journey and assess their ability to use the older ladders. As the cameras were being installed in late September this year, salmon were already actively swimming through.
“That was incredible,” exclaimed Mark Hereford, a project lead for the restoration effort with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
One particular camera captured a Chinook salmon dramatically leaping up an old fish ladder, providing the first visual evidence of the species’ upstream progress. Following this, scientists fitted some fish with radio tags to continue tracking their movements as they passed through the ladders.
The tagged fish quickly became pioneers. By mid-October, the trackers revealed that a few dozen salmon had successfully traveled approximately 30 miles through Upper Klamath Lake and into the tributaries considered the river’s headwaters. In just one year since the last dam’s removal, salmon are now actively recolonizing the uppermost reaches of the river system.
“We were ecstatic,” Mr. Hereford reiterated. “We didn’t know how long it would take. But to have them up here a year and a couple weeks since the last dam’s removal is pretty incredible.”
Scientists are currently surveying the tributaries via paddleboards, meticulously counting the returning salmon. Their conservative estimates indicate at least 140 adult fish are spawning in these headwater streams as of late October.
While this is a monumental step, a full recovery for the salmon will likely span many years. Concerns remain about water quality in the Upper Klamath, where agricultural runoff has led to phosphorus pollution, rendering some waterways unsafe for human use. Furthermore, an extensive network of irrigation canals poses a constant threat, potentially diverting fish away from critical spawning tributaries.
Funding also presents a challenge. The Klamath tribes and other organizations involved in the restoration have received millions of dollars from the federal government, but recent delays and grant cancellations have introduced uncertainty regarding the continuation of vital work.
For instance, the Klamath tribes were promised over $3.1 million in U.S. government funding for restoration efforts, including the installation of screens to prevent salmon from entering irrigation canals. “That’s been tied up since November of 2024,” Mr. Ray noted. “And that’s not just for the hard restoration work. That’s also for our crew of tribal members who rely on that for their jobs and their income.”
Nevertheless, after generations without salmon in the Klamath River, the tribes are celebrating this monumental conservation success. “This is a renewal of our culture that we’ve had for thousands of years,” Mr. Ray concluded, emphasizing the profound significance of this ecological triumph.