Salmon to surge after largest dam removal project in history

California's Klamath River in recovery following large-scale restoration

- James Fair

TO THE YUROK TRIBE WHO INHABIT northern California, the Klamath River is "the bloodline, the lifeblood of the people" because of the vast numbers of Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead trout that used to migrate upstream and into its tributaries to spawn each year.

Dam-building for hydro-electricity, which began in 1908, had a catastrophic impact on this once abundant resource, cutting off the fishes' routes to their spawning sites.