Researchers said there are promising signs for salmon populations in the Lower Klamath River — including the emergence of “football”-shaped fish — in the wake of the nation’s largest-ever dam removal.
Environmentalists and tribal officials Thursday marked one year since the elimination of four dams along the river in Northern California and southern Oregon.
While it remains too early to evaluate whether fish populations — which have a three-year life cycle — are rebounding, researchers said salmon and other species are being recorded swimming in portions of the river that have been blocked for more than a century.
“What the fish have shown us is something extraordinary,” said Damon Goodman, who serves as Mount Shasta-Klamath regional director for California Trout. “The river seemed to come alive almost instantly after dam removal, and the fish returned in greater numbers than I expected, and maybe anyone expected.”
